What Could Have Been
by eQuasarus
Summary: [AU] Sirius made a mistake. We all do. But what would it have been like if had stolen Harry away before he went to Azkaban?[Long hiatus, probably abandoned]
1. Prologue

DISCLAIMER: I am but a lowly sole who could never come up with something as extraordinary as Harry Potter. Be a saint and don't sue me for writing about it. JK Rowling and WB own everything. – I will introduce other characters with names or similar names from the following author(s): Orson Scott Card (another genius). Each name is owned by its respective author and I have no claim to them.

Description:

How would it be different if Sirius had made different decisions? What would it have been like if Sirius had not accepted defeat from Hagrid and taken Harry away with him? Would Harry grow up differently? Would Sirius be free?

All these and more answered in my latest conception. An Alternative Universe where Sirius did just that. If it sounds interesting try this first chapter. Tell me if you like it.

What Could Have Been

• eQuasarus •

Chapter 01

• Prologue •

_A flash of green light, that's all it took. A moment in time brought the greatest of evils to its knees._

•

Sirius was in a hurry.

**He knew.**

Had it happened any other night, he might have been able to protect them. However, it didn't, it hadn't and now they were no longer safe. It was planned. They had waited until he couldn't come, until there was no one available to help. If only he hadn't been in training as an Auror maybe then he might have made it.

Approaching, he slowed. The shadow of the now crumbled house made Sirius gasp. It was worse than he had thought. His caution lost, rushed into the remains having doubts if anyone lived. Room by room he e HHesdhhhhcombed through the house, trying to see if he could find anyone, if they might've lived.

Hagrid stood in the midst of what was once Harry's room, just above a woman who would no longer move. In his hands he held a tiny package, looking even smaller in his huge hands. He sensed movement and his eyes darted to the shadows before Sirius could hide. "Sirius!"

Sirius stepped out, looking utterly disheveled; his red face glistening with tears. "It happened didn't it Hagrid? He got to them," Sirius moaned, full of grief.

Deep inside he trembled to hear the words that would break him. The words that would tell him his best friend was dead.

Hagrid nodded and held out the baby for Sirius to inspect, "little 'arry lived."

Sirius's eyes lit up. There was still some reason to stay alive, his godson. He reached out to take the baby.

Hagrid shook his head sullenly, pulling Harry out of Sirius' reach. "S'rry 've got'r git him to Dumbledore."

Sirius shook his head slightly angry, but unwilling to fight the huge man. "I'm his godfather Hagrid, let me take him. I can care for him better than anyone else can."

Hagrid looked at Sirius. Then he shook his head, he had to do as Dumbledore asked, it was for the best. "No. Dumbledore trusts me. 'e's going to his aunt's. Dumbledore says' 'at's what best fer 'arry."

Dropping his head Sirius thought things through. He didn't know what to do, he couldn't let Harry live with the muggle sister of Lily's. The Dursley's were even worse then normal muggles, they were like the medieval muggles, the ones that tried to burn witches because they hated them. Sirius had been there once and in only a few minutes he was met with such hostility that he was afraid to return without a wand. Lily's own sister despised her.

However, while Sirius watched Hagrid he understood that there was no way he would be able to convince Hagrid otherwise. Hagrids single mindedness was something that Sirius had no doubt about and right now he was on a mission for Dumbledore.

Finally, having no ideas, he broke. Soon he'd be in hiding anyway, they'd all think it was him who'd betrayed James and Lily. He wasn't going to let it happen without getting revenge though, he'd find Peter and set things straight. "Alright Hagrid, take my motorcycle to get there, I won't be needing it anymore."

Hagrid looked sympathetic at Sirius and then nodded. Sirius wondered if there was any other way, cursing himself for being in too much of a hurry and forgetting his wand at the Auror checkpoint. He could have easily just immobilized Hagrid and taken Harry but the one time he forgot his wand...

Everything had gone wrong that day, one by one. It was if fate itself were leaving him no options. First he'd failed an Auror test and had to retake it, then the test was extended because the instructor had failed to show up. Something had occurred to Sirius the moment one of his tests had started, no more than an hour ago. It should have been obvious when everything was put together, Peter was going to betray them.

Tears poured from his eyes as Sirius watched Harry leaving his life again. He was going to be without him and in trouble, lots of trouble. As he looked down his eyes registered James's wand lying on the ground, he bent over and picked it up.

_Did he dare?_

Hagrid was swinging his legs over the motorcycle when Sirius turned back to him. It was almost comical how small the bike seemed with Hagrid sitting on it; it was completely different when he rode it.

Looking at the tiny bundle, Sirius knew what he had to do. But, could he do it? Did he even dare? He was used to breaking the rules, but this was more than just a simple prank. Pulling pranks was one thing, but this was another. Kidnapping. Something much more serious than anything he had ever done.

Everyone would be after him anyway. They would all see what they were forced to see. Everything would be wrong, and maybe it was in part his fault for being so trusting.

He debated it in his mind what would be best for Harry.

Would going and living with that horrible Muggle family be the best?

He knew they would despise him for what he was. They already hated James and Lily because they were wizards. Those foolish muggles couldn't stand anything that was different.

Hagrid started up the bike and Sirius still debated. Was this something he was willing to do?

An Owl fluttered down and caught Sirius's attention, it was James's, well had been. Sirius remembered when he had bought it, the day he found out Harry was pregnant. It was James' owl but it went everywhere with Lily so if anything happened she had a way of getting him information.

Lily... James... How could he have let this happen?

He knew all of the sudden what he had to do, the bike started rolling away and Sirius quietly called out. _"Accio."_

The tiny bundle, wrapped in white, lifted out of the sidecar and flew into Sirius's waiting hands. Hagrid was gone in only a second, the bike lifting into the air and heading away to the distant place where Harry was supposed to be going. Sirius watched Hagrid to make sure he didn't look back, he didn't.

Little Harry was quiet, he had been since Sirius appeared.

Across his forehead was a small bit of blood and a tiny scar as proof of the events that had transpired not long before. Sirius gently wiped away the blood and looked at Harry, tears in his eyes. He was so perfect, such an angel. Why was the Dark Lord after them, what was so special about Harry and James?

Harry had to be special, Sirius knew that. He'd always suspected it, but now he knew. With all his power Voldemort had been in such a mood to kill them, had they been mere pawns he would not have bothered. Yet still, with all his evil power, he was unable to stop him as a child. Sirius wondered how it had all taken place, how Harry, of all people, had stopped the Dark Lord.

It shouldn't have happened. Sirius vowed that someday Harry would be avenged, and until that day he would keep him safe from all that would hurt him.

Harry started to fuss a little. It wasn't loud, but it would give him away in the escape if someone were to listen for them. Sirius muttered a silencing spell that enveloped both he and Harry and looked around. He would have to get away as quickly as possible. He needed to make sure they couldn't find him. His head was thinking without thought, he reacted, knowing that what he was doing was for the best.

Sirius had been to this area many times before. He, Moony and Prongs had wandered through the nearby woods numerous times on full moons. He knew that in those dark woods would be his best chance to immediately get hidden away. His steps were quick and he held Harry gently moving through the woods towards some caves he had discovered the month before, he would figure everything out there.

• Edited 2004.09.18 •

This is just a small prologue. The other chapters are/will be longer than this.

So, if you're interested please continue on to the next chapter.


	2. Fleeing

Chapter 02

• Fleeing •

It wasn't as if Sirius didn't know what he was doing, he had been a father for several years now. Just... now he wasn't sure if it was the right time. Harry was still so young.

As Harry came bounding out of the school, alone, Sirius shook his head. When Harry approached he swept him up in a hug, "How is my little trouble maker today?"

In the distance, the playground filled with children. The same playground that Harry had just left to come out with Sirius.

Harry wasn't normal like the other kids. Ever since Sirius could remember he'd never really taken to being around other's. Likely, because he was never around people long or he always said or did something most of the other boys didn't like.

Sirius sighed at the thought, he wished he could have been a better father to Harry. James would have wanted Harry to have friends, to have a real life, to be more normal. He knew that he was doing the best he could, which wasn't the best that most could. It mattered not what he tried, Harry strayed from the others, most often preferring to be alone. Occasionally Harry thought that it might've been better for Harry to have gone to his aunts, maybe he would've made better friends even if the family didn't like him.

Girls were different, when Harry _did_ play with other children, they weren't boys. The girls didn't mind having him around, they would sit in the grass with him, make crowns of flowers, and braid their hair while he just talked. Harry's own hair wasn't long enough to be braided, it never grew out that long. Even then, Harry didn't spend that much time with them. Most likely because Sirius, no matter how hard he tried, couldn't approve of Harry acting like a girl even at such a young age.

Together they had been hiding out as Muggles for several years, moving around all the time to avoid detection.

In the beginning, Sirius had looked around, trying to find someone to take care of Harry so he could try to clear his name. Over time he'd been around a good bit and spoken to a lot of people, but he could not find anyone he deemed worthy of taking care of Harry if he couldn't return. His name had been slandered in a short time, he'd even been given a reputation that was only peaked by Voldemort himself. Sirius wanted to free himself but he couldn't leave Harry because he was afraid there was no way to prove himself innocent especially with the corrupted ministry.

At first, it had been difficult. However, with time, Sirius had learned about taking care of Harry full time. They had lived in abandoned houses until Harry was old enough to go to school, and then Sirius had created identities for them and taken on the role of a proper father, working only when necessary. He took him to school and trying to get him interested in sports (though muggle sports were all very confusing to Sirius). He was always was near Harry, where he could get to him within moments.

Through the years they had never stayed at one place for more than a few months, the ministry always found them and they moved on again. Sirius was prepared, always, since the deaths.

The irony was that Peter was constantly the one in the lead, first through the door. Sirius hated him and thought it was an ironic fate that of all the people to come after him, it was Peter.

Each time they fled, Sirius found a new identity and hid deeper within the muggle world. And, each time it took the ministry longer and longer to find them. It was in part, because Sirius found himself understanding how muggles lived without magic. Sirius could never completely plunge into the muggle world, because of the possibility of them finding him. He had to be prepared to do what was necessary to keep Harry safe.

Lately though, they had been spotted quickly. Sirius knew it was because of Harry, he was randomly emitting magic, doing things he didn't mean to. Sitting across from the school before the lunch had begun, as was usual, Sirius had been trying to decide if he should try to teach Harry about magic. At such a young age it may be hard, but if he could then it would make things much easier. The more Harry saw, the more seemed to come from him. Sirius couldn't refrain from using magic, it was the only way he could keep safe. If Harry were to become educated in spells and charms, he might be able to control the magic in him that was emerging from him.

James's and Lily's wand were the only ones he had, his house had been scoured and everything had been taken before Sirius had got a chance to get back to it. Of course, the ministry had kept the wand he left with them, he knew they would do that. That night when Harry had fallen asleep Sirius had apparated back to the burnt house. He rummaged through the rubble and taken anything that might be useful to him, including Lily's wand.

Finally, Sirius came to the conclusion that there was only one option and he called Harry. "Harry."

Harry looked up at him, "Yes daddy."

Sirius sighed, "Harry, how many times do I have to tell you? You know I'm not your real father, he died a long time ago at the hand of an evil man."

Harry nodded, "I know, but you're the one that raised me. You're my daddy now."

Sirius closed his eyes, it conflicted him inside to be called daddy. He knew he didn't want to be called that, it was his fault everything had happened. He wished he could take it back. But, at the same time when he was called daddy it gave him a feeling of pride, Harry may not be his son but he had raised Harry, kept him away from everyone that was evil.

"Ok Harry. I can accept that, for now. I have something to teach you about today. It's about you being different."

Harry nodded and smiled. "Do I get to do it like you can?"

Sirius knew what he meant, Harry had seen him transform on more than one occasion. His animagus form had saved them from capture in many instances. Though, it was getting difficult to carry Harry on his back now that Harry was six years old.

"Well, not yet. But you get to do other things."

Harry smiled happily. It took so little to make him feel good. Sirius smiled back at him. "Let's go then," he said, glancing back at the school. Harry wouldn't be going for a time, they would be moving soon if he was going to teach Harry magic.

Harry grabbed Sirius's hand and dragged him trying to get him to move faster as they headed back to their flat. Sirius only worked a bit here and there, he had been pretty well off before everything had happened. Now he didn't have it all, but he had been able to get a good deal of it through a very long and tedious set of paperwork and convincing through muggle banks. Of course, the ministry had traced it as quick as possible, but Sirius was long gone with the money when they finally did.

They had a bank account in one of his many names. It had been easy to get a hold of a few new identities when he reached the muggle world, most of the people that could do it were easy to identify. Now he had a list, several muggle documents to prove he was who they thought he was, Neal White, Jacob Green, Simon Black or any number of other muggle names. Harry knew some little things about that, he had enjoyed changing his name all the time, but still preferred to be called Harry by Sirius.

They reached the building and took the elevator to there flat. Sirius performed a quick check before entering into the room. He knew what an Auror did, what tactics they used, how they could find him. After all, he had been trained as one, nearly graduated from the training. Had things been different by only a few more weeks, he would have. This also meant he knew how to hide his magic and keep them off his trail for long periods of time. He needed to teach Harry how to hide his magic quickly, it would give them away soon enough.

Walking into the room Sirius pulled out James's wand and handed it to Harry. "You know what this is?"

Harry laughed lightly, "Your wand silly."

Sirius shook his head, "No, it was your father's wand, now it is yours. I can use another for now."

Harry looked at it as though it was a delicate object and slowly took it from his hand. "Mine? Does that mean I get to learn?"

Sirius smiled and nodded, "Yes Harry, it's time. You are a young man now and they are finding us too quickly because you're giving off too much power. We need to start to dampen what they can see, which means you have to learn some of the tricks of the trade."

Harry nodded, Sirius knew how happy he was. They had been dodging the ministry all Harry's life, he had helped on more that one occasion to ward off the Auror's. Now he would be able to help a little more. He knew everything that had happened in the past, how Sirius had been framed and how his parents had died. On occasion they would talk about it, but not often.

"Now Harry, I want to show you a basic spell. First though." He lifted his hands and performed a spell to insure that the flat would dampen any magic so people would not be able to find it. He reinforced the field nearly every day just as a precaution, it was supposed to last weeks but Sirius had learned that it didn't always last that long.

"Ok, now, hold the wand and say _Lumos_."

Harry held out the wand lazily. "_Lumos._"

It lit up brightly Sirius smiled, he picked this up pretty easily. "Now, _Nox_."

Harry rolled his eyes. "_Nox._"

The light flickered and was gone, Sirius felt extremely proud. For a six year old it was amazing he was doing the spell correctly his first time. Harry, however, didn't seem to think so. "Dad! I want to do something hard, that was too easy, I've been able to..."

Sirius looked at Harry again; who had shut his mouth as if he was saying something wrong. Sirius repeated the words in his head, then looked down sternly. "Harry, you've been able to do that for how long?"

Harry looked guiltily at Sirius, he knew he wasn't supposed to use the wand unless he asked Sirius first. "Since I've been using the wand."

Sirius looked even more displeased, "And how long have you been using the wand? I haven't ever seen you using it."

Harry looked down at the floor. "Since London. When we escaped there I heard the spells and I tried them. I couldn't really do them at first, but I did them over and over and over until I could. You caught me before but I made you forget."

Sirius was startled. "You... since London? You could barely speak then. And forget, how did you make me forget?"

A coin found its way to Harry's hand and started rolling back and forth over the top of his fingers. Sirius knew he was extremely nervous; the coin was something he only did when he wasn't thinking about it or nervous. "_Obliviate._"

Sirius took a deep breath, he didn't enjoy being mad at Harry, but this was absurd. "When did you learn that charm?"

"In London, I told you. When we were getting away you made that man forget when he caught us."

Sirius felt really warm inside, he wasn't angry anymore, he was proud. Harry could already do magic, it was so natural for him like he was born to do it, he was using magic from the time he could speak.

Then Sirius wondered if he could do anything else. "I'm not mad Harry, just surprised. Tell me, what else can you do?"

Harry smiled and looked up. "Really you're not mad?" Sirius shook his head.

"Ok. Well, I know a lot though," Harry said happily. "I watch you do all you're spells all the time. I read too."

Sirius glanced over at the far bookshelf. They had happened across a few books in there travels and Harry had insisted they keep them. He'd always wondered why, shrinking them and taking the books when they moved hadn't been hard. But they had lost several books when they had had to escape and Harry always hated it.

"Ok Harry, what else can you do then?"

Harry pointed his wand at a pencil on the desk. "_Wingardium Leviosa_." His hands flicked and the pencil lifted off the desk. Sirius watched it as it floated, with Harry very much in control, right over to him and dropped in his hand.

Sirius was more exited than anything else right now. It was amazing what Harry could do, the spell wasn't too difficult, but to control it so well - "Show me everything you can do," he said, enjoying watching Harry use magic.

Harry grinned wider than before. He knew Sirius was happy with how much he could do. He also knew as well that particular spell was nothing really difficult. One of the books had showed him how to move from one place to another. It had taken him several months to get it right but now he could do it without thinking hard. He would save that until the end though.

It took a few hours to go over everything, Sirius was so proud of Harry. He also realized it was no wonder they had been found easier. Later, he needed to teach Harry how to suppress the magic outside the immediate vicinity. The flying charm had been entertaining, Harry hadn't perfected it at all (which was no surprise Sirius couldn't either.), but was still able to get himself to fly around the room, bumping into everything, but that didn't matter.

Harry was sitting across the room now, he called for Sirius's attention. "There's one more. I don't know though... I think it's a bad spell."

Sirius looked up, he knew that Harry had been hiding something. He was mischievous just like his father, always the best for last. "Go ahead, I can reverse anything you can do," he nodded his head and watched as Harry disappeared. He gasped, what had gone wrong? There was a tapping on his shoulders and Sirius turned around and struggled for breath, falling out of his chair in the process.

"You... You can apparate!" he choked, his jaw almost touching the floor. That was impossible.

Harry looked at him confused. "See it's bad... I told you."

Sirius suddenly had a notion, if he could, he must have been able to do it before. "How long have you been able to do that?"

Harry's confusion went away and now he looked guilty again. "Since Bath."

Sirius knew all of he sudden, they had been able to track them. That was why there had been a series of narrow escapes around that time, they hadn't seemed to stay in one place for more than a couple days. Harry had been apparating, probably practicing, they could have easily traced him. Harry had also probably made this connection. "Did you stop doing it?"

Harry nodded slowly. "The Aurors kept finding us really quick when I did it."

Sirius nodded and realized that they had probably watched that too, they had to leave. "Harry, we have to go, they can trace you when you apparate. We can talk about this later."

Harry nodded; he had caused them to get into trouble again and knew it. Sirius flicked his wand and several things were packed into a trunk, which he shrunk and made weightless. "We need to go again. Where shall we go to this time?"

Harry pulled out a map of England they had. There were several small red marks that showed where they had been. He had been deciding where to go lately and he had to choose again. "How about Birmingham?"

Sirius smiled, "Birmingham it is. I wonder how much different the schools will be," he said with a smile. Harry always wondered that very thing. Sometimes they changed very little, sometimes a lot.

They both left the apartment quickly and headed for the train station.

When they got to the station, Sirius took Harry into the restroom and handed him a piece of candy. Harry knew what it was and didn't want to take it, it made his insides feel bad. Grudgingly he popped it into his mouth and watched in the mirror as his hair changed color. His eyes shifted to a bright blue and his scar faded away. Sirius had explained it once before, it was a something called a 'glamour' charmed candy. It would make the person look different for hours on end sort of like a costume that you put on. It was really fun accept that he hated the feeling it gave him.

Harry smiled at himself and brushed back his long hair. Sirius had wanted to cut it but he didn't want to, he liked Sirius's long hair and was trying to mimic it, though his hadn't ever got very long.

Sirius paid for the tickets and then got on the train, when he had found an empty compartment he took one of the chocolates and popped it in his mouth, his hair and eyes also changing. Both were now brown.

Harry sat quietly in the compartment and wondered what life was like for a normal person. Even being young he watched people walk by and knew he wasn't like them at all. It wasn't just that they were always on the run either, or magic. Deep inside he knew that he was different from all of them.

Being on the run he never had any real friends. So he watched people as they walked by and he studied them, he tried to think like them, but it never worked. Someday he'd have friends, he knew it. One day he'd find people more like him.

•

Another couple years passed, Harry progressed through training almost as fast as Sirius could teach him. It didn't take long before Harry was eight and asked the question. One of those questions Sirius didn't want to have to answer, he knew there were worse and more difficult questions but this one was still too complex.

"Sirius, can I become an animagus yet?"

It was an innocent question. Harry was always so innocent about everything.

Sirius had been pondering the question for a long time. It would probably be much easier to escape with another animagus, as long as he wasn't too conspicuous. He still hadn't come up with the answer for himself, deep down he already knew he would do it. He had been purchasing the supplies needed one by one and even trained Harry to do some of the things that were needed. Harry was ready, Sirius wasn't.

They were sitting in a flat in London again, it had been several years since they had been in London, so it was safe to return as long as it wasn't near the same place. Harry had been going to school until the holiday and still hadn't enjoyed it. He wanted so much to be a real wizard and not have to deal with anything that was muggle. Sirius made it known that to 'know how to be a muggle' was a great survival trait, it _had_ kept them alive after all. He wondered how long Harry could endure being on the run as they were.

Sirius had thought, more than once, about leaving him with someone, perhaps the Longbottoms, or the Figg's. He knew both of them and wondered if they would take Harry in and treat him right. Of course he would find out how famous he really was, and would barely be able to get out without be strangled by some wizard who wanted to get to know him.

Sirius decided to help him become an animagus, he was ready, and he only had a short time before Hogwarts, that's when Sirius could leave him, allow him to lead a life not on the run. "Harry, I believe it's time."

That was all Harry needed, he pounced on Sirius, "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

•

Harry was just about 10. Sirius counted down the seconds until his birthday and then tackled him, rolling him off the bed. "Harry, guess what?"

Harry looked at him groggily, "we have to leave again?"

Sirius grinned, "No, it's your birthday silly."

Harry rolled over in bed. "Well, it can wait a few hours can't it?"

Sirius laughed. "Only if you can sleep through an ice-cold bucket of water."

Harry rolled out of bed and was standing in seconds. Sirius had threatened before, and followed through. "I'm up Siri'. What do I have to be up this early for?"

Sirius laughed again. "I thought you might want to play with your present before dawn, you can't be out on it during the day."

Harry's eyed lit up, he knew what he was getting. "Did you really?" He looked across his room at a long package. Sirius had done it, Harry had a broom. "Can you teach me how to fly?"

Sirius grinned, "I can teach you the basics. I was never very good at it though. Your father was always the Quidditch master."

Harry only took a moment to rip open his present. It was a top of the line model of course, a Nimbus 2000, barely even out on the market. "You got it!"

Sirius smiled, "yeah, now let's go try it out."

Harry took it in his hand and ran outside. It was still dark, but that didn't matter. He knew the area by heart, they had been living there for over almost two years now and Harry had a tendency to wander around in his free time. There were other wizards lived near and had done his best to avoid them. But it wasn't always so, one of the nearby families had a little girl that had caught Harry a few times. He had always had the glamour candy so she didn't know who he was. Sometimes, she played hide-n-seek with Harry until her brothers came, then they would demand to know where she had been. They never caught Harry though, he was too quick for them.

He ran all the way to the little strip of land that was encompassed by tree's he had seen the boys playing Quidditch here on more than one occasion and figured it was safe as long as he wasn't out while they were there. Sirius followed behind Harry.

When they got to clearing Harry turned back to Sirius. "Now, how does it work?"

Sirius laid out the broomstick gently, "there are several steps. Before you ride you need to know that on a broomstick movement is what guides it. If you lean, it will lean with you. Your hands are the primary controlling mechanism. You hold it like this," he demonstrated sitting on a broomstick and holding the front. "Don't grip it to tight, make sure you have control of it."

Harry rolled his eyes, he had read about riding a broomstick before and just wanted to test it now. Sirius saw this and shook his head. "Ok, first you need to be able to call the broomstick," he stepped back a little and held his right arm out. "Up!" The broomstick wiggled for a moment and then slowly rose to Sirius's hands.

Harry watched and the nodded. He wanted to try now. Sirius switched places with Harry and watched him carefully. Harry held out his hand over the broomstick. "Up!" it came straight to his hands without a moment thought.

He smiled at Sirius and swung his leg over the broom. It felt just right. He pulled up slightly and felt the broom pull him into the air. He smiled and leaned forward, dashing about the clearing for several minutes. He finally stopped and came back down. Sirius was grinning. "Harry, you're a natural, just like your father."

Harry beamed, it felt good to have Sirius complimenting him, it hadn't happened in a while, just work, work, work. He did admit it wasn't difficult, just tedious sometimes. He looked up at the sky, the sun was coming up and they needed to get back soon. Harry found himself turning around, someone else was there. He spotted a lock of red hair just over one of the bushes and immediately knew who was there. He turned back to Sirius and motioned for him to be quiet then got back on the broomstick. He moved away into the trees, then circled back around behind her. "Virginia."

She jumped up, more surprised that he was behind her than actually being there. She looked at him and gasped, "Harry?" He smiled then remembered, he hadn't taken his candy before they left that morning, he was normal. Her eye's locked onto his forehead. "You're not Harold Black, you're Harry Potter!"

His hand darted to his head and he groaned. "You can't tell anyone. They'll go after Sirius."

Sirius was still standing in the clearing bewildered at what Harry was doing. She looked at him, "You mean he's not bad?"

Harry shook his head. "No, it wasn't him that sent Voldemort after me," Ginny gasped at the mention of the name. Harry wasn't sure why she had gasped, it was Voldemort, what did it matter? "Anyway, Peter Pettigrew was the one that gave me and my parents away."

Virginia shivered at the mention of Voldemort. She was staring when she finally decided something. "Ok, I can keep a secret, but you have to do something for me."

Harry shook his head, "What is it?"

It only took a second Virginia grabbed him and kissed him firmly. He had never been kissed before and though hadn't thought much about it didn't mind it one bit, in fact, it felt pretty good. When she let go she smiled extremely shyly. Harry was bright red and stuttering. Sirius suddenly appeared over the bushes. "Harry, what are you..."

He noticed Virginia and stopped. His eyes darted to Harry and then back to Virginia. "Bloody Hell."

Harry had never heard Sirius swear before, well, once when he had gotten inches from death while an old death eater was chasing them. Virginia pulled Harry in front of her as if protecting her from Sirius. Harry looked at Virginia and back at Sirius, "It's ok, she said she wouldn't tell."

Sirius looked at Virginia for a long time. "Ok, I suppose you know who I am, and who Harry really is. Who are you?"

Virginia smiled. "My name is Virginia Weasley, Ginny for short. Harry calls me Virginia, you can call me Ginny, that's what I prefer," her eyes darted down to Harry who was grinning. He remembered when she had told him to call her Ginny, he wouldn't deny her the pleasure of him calling her Virginia though.

Sirius grinned, "Ok Virginia."

Harry grinned again, he knew it, Sirius was just the same as him. Harry loved to tease girls, but they also enjoyed being around him, he figured they were more mature and easier to handle than most guys, in school most of his friends (what few he had had) had been mostly girls. They didn't however enjoy it when he pulled pranks, which he had found himself enjoying.

Virginia clamped tighter on Harry, she was pretty angry. He remembered the first time he had called her Virginia, he had gotten a good reaming. "I PREFER GINNY. I do not enjoy being called Virginia, Harry can call me that because he's special."

She clamped her hand over her mouth as if she'd said something wrong. Sirius's grin grew wider. "Special, huh? In what way? You two were pretty busy in these bushes before I made it over here."

Ginny turned so red, her hair almost lost its brilliance. Harry smiled, "she just kissed me."

Sirius laughed lightly, "of course."

Virginia turned and looked out towards the field on the other side of the clearing. "Harry, I have to go. I want to tell you, my older brothers are looking for you. They read my journal last night when I left it out before dinner," she started to turn red again. "They found out I had been talking to you and swore they would find you and make sure you left me alone, that's why I came out here so early, I hoped you would be here before they came."

Harry looked at Sirius. "Siri' we have to go home then."

Virginia grabbed Harry's hand before he left. "Harry, can I come over sometime?"

Harry looked at Sirius and then back at Virginia, he didn't mind, Sirius might though. It had been a long while since anyone had figured out where they were, they had been very careful. Sirius shrugged his shoulders. "I don't mind."

Harry grinned. "Ok, we live over there," he pointed out a small house that sat alone just on the other side of a hill a good distance away. "Be careful no one else comes with you. Everyone is still looking for Siri'."

Ginny nodded and Harry and Sirius took off.

When they entered the house both quickly set about checking the house, it was a natural thing now, they did it whenever they walked in the place. Sirius then moved over to a chair on the far side of the room and sat down. He covered his face. "I should have obliviated her," he moaned.

Harry walked over to him. "No, she'll not tell, I believe her."

Sirius looked at Harry and shook his head. "I don't know woman well, they're so damned confusing." He looked over to the far wall and then back at the door. "Girls will always get you to believe them, they're good at that. Anyway, I didn't get much exercise out there. Want to go for a run?"

Harry nodded, he had done a lot more than Sirius but wasn't at all tired. He could use a good run. They walked back out the doors again and Sirius lept and changed in mid air. Harry laughed and dropped, changing into his form. Sirius was always trying to make it look fancy, but it was so simple.

It looked odd, seeing a large wildcat dashing through the forest next to a huge black dog. Anyone that saw them would shake their heads and upon looking back and not glimpsing the animals would swear they were seeing things.

• Edited 2004.09.18 •


	3. Caught

Chapter 03

• Caught •

There was a knock on the door, one Harry knew particularly well, Virginia. He opened up the door and let Virginia in. Sirius was away, he told Harry that he had to go think about some things. Harry had thought it a little unusual but well, Sirius was a little unusual sometimes.

"Guess what?" Virginia said, smiling broadly.

Slightly surprised, Harry just shook his head, "I don't know, what?"

She smiled slyly, "Ron just got his acceptance to Hogwarts."

As she finished the sentence Harry's eyes fell to the ground. He'd been wondering when he would get his acceptance letter, but he was pretty sure he wouldn't be. Because of what he and Sirius had to do to stay protected, the owl would never find him. Virginia sprawled out in one of the big chairs in the room. "Did you get one?"

"No," Harry shook his head, finally admitting to himself that he wouldn't be getting one. "I won't. Sirius puts a protection charm on us. It keeps us from being tracked, but that means no owls could find us."

Only a week ago, when Harry'd turned 11 he'd been thinking about it a lot. Sirius had seemed a little reserved though, and though it had been fun (especially when Virginia showed up) there had been something that made him act distant.

At one point Harry had said something to Sirius about Hogwarts, but soon after Sirius had disappeared leaving the children alone. The two had played Harry's new game of wizarding chess that Virginia had given him. Harry'd even taken her home and almost gotten caught by some of her older brothers who were out looking for her.

Nodding her head, Virginia draped it back over the top of the chair. Harry looked over to her and chuckled. "Why didn't you come over yesterday?"

Virginia looked up. "Fred or George pulled a prank on me, yesterday. My hair was bright green all day long."

Grinning, Harry tried to imagine Virginia with bright green hair, it wasn't pretty. "Do you want to get them back?"

"And how do I do that?" she asked curious at what Harry was getting at.

Harry laughed. "It just so happens Siri' was a prankster at Hogwarts, one of the most renowned." Sirius walked in at that time, looked at Virginia, and shook his head guiltily.

"Is it true you were a prankster?" Virginia asked him inquisitively.

Looking over at Harry and then back Sirius grinned. "Well sort of, I was in a group. We called ourselves the Marauders."

Virginia looked up at that name, "I've heard it Fred said something about a map and the Marauders."

Both of them knew what the map was. Sirius had got it taken away seventh year, he wasn't surprised that someone had it though. "Yeah, that was my idea, Prongs and Moony did most of the work. It's a map of Hogwarts, but not any old map. It shows where everyone is and the secret passages."

"That really took some talent," Virginia said, awed.

Sirius scratched the top of his head. "Well, yeah, that was why James.. err Prongs did it."

"Hey," he said, coming up with a good idea. "Why don't we leave them a present, compliments of 'The Marauders'?"

Virginia smiled broadly. "They wouldn't know what hit them. I play tricks on them, but I've never pulled a good prank on them, not like they do to the rest of us, especially me."

Sirius thought for a few moments. "I think I've got the perfect idea."

As Sirius explained they drew closer, smiling more and more as the plan unfolded. Virginia would have to run home and get some things quickly. She took off quickly, happy that she could get her brothers back.

"You like this girl?" Sirius asked, watching her sprint through the woods, a grin on his face.

There wasn't any answer that Harry could use without Sirius using it against him. "She's my only friend. I don't know though, when she kissed me... It was like a big explosion in my head, I can't really explain it. I want to be friends, I don't want to be all mushy like adults yet."

Sirius was laughing so hard that he bent over. "Harry, you're becoming a man quicker than you realize. You don't need to tell her about all our secrets, ok? I am still not so sure if we can trust her."

That was an easy answer for Harry. He trusted her almost as much as she trusted Sirius. He'd known her for well over a year now. "So where did you go anyway?" he asked.

"I was deciding something about you," Sirius frowned, remembering what it was that he'd been doing before he returned.

Harry was slightly surprised. "What were you deciding about?"

Crossing the room, Sirius disappeared into the only other room in the cabin. When her returned a few minutes later he had something in his hands. Harry was staring, and at some point while he waited, a coin had found itself in his hands and was rolling over his fingers.

"I was deciding about you going to Hogwarts," Sirius said, his grip tightening. "Do you suppose that your little girly friend could nick her brothers letter and make a copy? Seems to me, that since you're 11 that it's about time you go. As a parents it's my job to make sure that you get a proper magical education."

Harry smiled and then frowned. "But what if you get caught Siri'?"

"Let me take care of myself. I've gotten pretty good at that," Sirius said, trying to feign a smile.

It didn't work around Harry, he knew Sirius too well. There was a unidentifiable emotion that Harry could see on Sirius's face. "Siri'?" Harry asked. "What are you going to do when I'm gone? And.. how am I... how am I going to get home next summer?"

When Sirius paled Harry knew what had been showing on Sirius's face. "I'm not going to be coming back, am I?"

Sirius paled.

It didn't take any more thought, Harry had made his decision. "No Siri'. I'm not going to go to Hogwarts if I can't come back to you."

A clunk of a metal coin striking the wood floor was followed by an awkward silence. Sirius looked torn again, as he had been feeling a lot lately. It was even harder now to send Harry to Hogwarts. He'd been fighting himself about it for the last few days, and now, when he'd finally made the decision, Harry didn't want it.

"Harry," Sirius said decisively. "You're going to Hogwarts. I know you already know some magic, but you need to go to Hogwarts. There happen to be things that I don't know, and you can learn them there. It's all very important and there's no way I can teach it all to you. What I can do is get an owl, I'll charm it so that it can find me and you can write me."

Harry felt so sad he almost started crying but he realized it wouldn't work. If Sirius was going to do something he did, it was as simple as that, Harry and Sirius both knew Harry would be going to Hogwarts.

When Virginia showed up a few minutes later, she walked right in the door. Being so distraught, Sirius hadn't bothered to lock it. When she was confronted by the two solemn faces, she was slightly confused having left them in good spirits.

"Is everything alright Harry?" she asked quietly.

Still distraught, Harry looked up at her. "Virginia, can you get Ron's letter from Hogwarts and make a copy of everything he is supposed to bring?"

She nodded. "I suppose so. Are you going to go too?"

It was her turn to feel bad, she had been hoping that maybe he wouldn't. Everyone else was leaving her this year and she hated to be alone with mum. "I can get it if you need it," she said quietly. "When do you want it?"

"We need it as soon as possible," Sirius interrupted. "I have to get it before there are a lot of people running around Diagon Alley that might be able to recognize me even with a disguise."

After Virginia nodded Harry noticed she hadn't set down everything she'd brought and so he set about preparing an area at the table. The atmosphere that was quickly building wasn't something he enjoyed much.

"Well Siri', what do you think about getting that potion brewed for Virginia?"

Everyone smiled. Fred and George were going to have a time with dealing with this potion. When Virginia talked about them she'd told them a lot. How they were always brewing something in their room, and only left to eat and other various activities that required them to leave the room.

To start, Sirius charmed a certain object (a book about spells that Virginia had nicked) so that they would be repulsed by it. She'd plant it in their room and they wouldn't be able to figure out what it was. So they'd stay away from their room as much as they could.

At breakfast Virginia'd insure they got a drink of something tainted with the potion they were making now. Within a few minutes of drinking it they'd start saying the first thing that came to their minds and it'd last for the whole day. By the end of the day, when the charm wore off on the book and the twins returned, they'd find a note, signed by the marauders, telling them to be more cautious about who they pulled pranks on.

•

The next morning Harry waited outside for Virginia. He sat on the pouch, rolling a coin and watching carefully. Sirius had gone and disappeared again, Harry assumed to make arrangements for going to Hogwarts. Meanwhile Harry had his own plans, and they were slowly evolving in his head. Peter was going to be framed, he'd be sent to jail and then new information would be found to indict him with the murder of Harry's parents.

When Virginia did show up she was bright red and panting. "Sorry," she huffed. "Ron went and followed me out this morning. Thought he'd be crafty and all. Took me a while to lose him."

Still pondering the thought of framing Peter, Harry just shrugged and followed her inside.

The list was pulled out and they'd begun examining it when there was a loud creak. Harry turned quickly to the porch, and caught someone trying to peak in. With three silent steps Harry was on the other side of the room and yanked the door open. A young red-headed boy was looking through the slats in the cabin, trying to see what was going on inside. It wouldn't work though, the cabin had been charmed to make the inside look empty. Even though Harry should've let him be he was furious that he wasn't leaving Virginia alone.

"What do you want?" he growled, pinning the boy to the ground.

It was quite a surprise for the boy to be knocked to the ground so quickly and he struggled to get back up. Harry wasn't exactly strong, but he'd been taught about physical fighting with Sirius, so he didn't have much difficulty keeping the boy pinned. When the boy finally gave up he looked right into Harry's eyes, irritated. "You're Harry aren't you, the guy my sisters running around with?"

"So what if I am?" Harry said, pushing his head back to the ground when he tried to lift it.

The boy looked terrified, he had suddenly realized the position he was in. Virginia came out the door and gasped when she saw him. "Ron!"

He looked over at her, "Ginny."

Harry drew the attention back to himself, "Yeah, and I'm Harry. Now that everyone's been introduced what shall I do with you?" He'd dealt with nosy people before and knew the best way to keep them away was to scare them or obliviate them.

"Virginia, my wand," Harry said when he found that it was in her hand instead of in his side pocket.

After holding it towards him, she paused for just a second. "What are you going to do with it?"

Ron laughed and Harry looked back down. "He's a kid, I bet he can't even do anything with it."

Harry snorted and stood grabbing Ron by the collar and dragging him roughly into the house. "I can do more than you think."

"Don't do it," Virginia said, grabbing his hand. "He won't tell anyone you're here, I'll promise for him."

Ron was curious now. "Tell anyone what?"

The, he looked around again, as if examining Harry. There didn't seem anything strange about him, he did have longer than normal hair, but nothing particularly interesting. Then, his eyes locked on the object on his forehead, some sort of scar. The hair drifted back and forth over his forehead and Ron's eyes almost burst when he realized what it was. "A lightning bolt scar!" he stuttered.

It didn't take long for his eyes to examine Harry again. "Harry... Harry Potter?" his voice croaked and he looked as began trembling, his pants slowly getting wet down one leg.

"Yeah, I know," he said, smiling at the way Ron was acting. "Shall I Obliviate you now?"

Ron stuttered. "But - you can't Obliviate... My brother can't even Obliviate and he is going to be a 5th year next year,. He's even at the top of his class."

Harry raised his wand and prepared to perform the curse. "Well, I guess I'm special then aren't I?" he half snarled.

Ron looked even more scared now. Harry concentrated for a second, he didn't want to get distracted and do it wrong. _"Obl..."_

"Wait," Ron cut him off.

Harry looked down at him. "What?"

"If you're Harry Potter then Sirius Black..."

"Is here. Yeah, you're certainly not as stupid as you look," Harry said getting more and more irritated. "That is why I can't let you remember this. If they catch him they'll throw him in Azkaban for something he didn't do," he continued even angrier that Ron was being as annoying as he was. He wished that the kid hadn't shown up in the first place.

Ron backed up, finding some sort of locomotion control suddenly. "But he's bad," he stuttered. "He was the one that got your parents killed. Why would you want to protect him?"

Finally Virginia stepped forward, but in Sirius's defense. "He didn't do it you prat. Why do you think that Peter Pettigrew is always talking to father about what happens when Sirius is caught? He wants to make sure Sirius is kissed immediately so that no one will ever know what really happened."

Ron was confused. "Peter did it? Why would he do something like that?"

Then Virginia got angry. "You of all people..." she said, her tone getting stronger. "You know what he tried to do me last summer while everyone was gone, if you hadn't slept in and been home... I saw the mark and so did you. Why would he be a Death Eater and still be after Sirius. All the Death Eaters wanted to kill the Potter's."

Ron let her facts sink in. "I don't know Ginny. I know he is a sick man but I don't know if he could kill his best friends. He cries about them so often, even now."

Virginia looked accusingly at him. "And you don't cry when I hit you, you try and get away with making it sound like it hurt by crying about it?"

Ron looked up at her. "It does hurt!"

Harry laughed, he found it amusing that Virginia was beating up her older brother's. Ron looked at him angrily. "It does, if she hit you would know."

Harry laughed even harder. "You mean that it actually hurt you? When she hit me last time I barely felt it. Granted she has a special place in her heart for me."

He looked over at Virginia who was blushing. Ron gasped and looked over at her. "Is he your boyfriend?"

Harry found Ron more than a little amusing, he was so childish. "Well, I am a boy and I am a friend. I guess that means I'm her boyfriend. Why, you have anything against it?"

Virginia was sitting back, mouth agape unsure what to say. Harry decided to end the games and get it over with. He raised his wand and started. _"Oblivia..."_

Then, before he could finish the sentence the door flew open, another red-headed boy standing in the light.This one was much older. He looked around the room his eyes locking onto Virginia. "Are you ok Ginny?"

Virginia stood and brushed herself off, "of course I'm ok Bill, why wouldn't I be?"

Bill, the second redheaded guy, looked over at Harry and then down at Ron. "You ok little brother?"

Ron, who was more relieved to see his brother than he had ever been in his life choked, he couldn't seem to say anything. Bill looked at Harry and took looked him over as if deciding how difficult he would be to tackle. "Who are you?"

"His name is Harry Potter and mine is Sirius Black," came a voice from behind Bill. "And now that all the introductions are taken care of..." Sirius paused, as if waiting for Bill to react.

Bill turned around, only to have his wand plucked out of his hand before he could react. Sirius shoved him hard back into the room and closed the door. Harry looked up at Sirius. "I'm sorry. Virginia was followed by one of her brothers," he pointed to Ron.

"I don't know where he came from." Harry pointed to Bill. "I was taking care of it though. I was about to Obliviate Ron so he won't recall being here."

Bill scoffed even though he was laying on the floor. "A little young to be Obliviating aren't you?"

"Silencio," Harry waved his wand at them, tired of listening to the two prats.

Bill's mouth kept moving but there was no noise. Sirius looked at Harry. "Ok, let's get this over with." Bill who was no longer rattling on frowned. He shook his head at Harry.

Personally, Harry didn't care what the two boys thought. He only wanted to get it over with. It wasn't as if they were killing them, simply performing a basic memory charm. As he held up his want to obliviate them he was distracted for the third time by another noise.

At first his eyes darted to the slats again, but no one seemed to be peaking in. He glanced over to Sirius for a second, who was watching the door carefully, fully aware there was another person around. There was a soft knock on the door and Harry darted forward to answer it. Behind his back he held his wand prepared.

A portly woman was on the other side of it, smiling brightly. "Sorry dear, I was just looking for my children. You wouldn't happen to have seen them, a couple of them wandered off today," she said pleasantly. "Wait, you wouldn't happen to be Harry by any chance, the darling little boy that Ginny's always telling me about."

"Yeah, I am," he said charmingly. "Tell me, what's she told you about me?"

Mrs. Weasley smiled, overjoyed to meet him apparently. "Oh, she says you are fun to play with, and love to play games with her. She seems to think you're a remarkably good person."

"I'll have to thank her the next time I see her," he said, grinning at her. "I can go look and see if I can find her for you, maybe she is with her brothers."

Mrs. Weasley nodded to him. "Well, I guess I'll go have to check the hillside again, I didn't see them there, maybe they decided to go back though."

Harry nodded and watched her leave. Then he turned back and walked into the house, where Sirius had just finished performing a memory charm on Bill. He untied him and then tapped his wand to his head, knocking him unconscious. Ron watched Sirius, fearfully. Harry didn't want to do anything to them, in part because of Virginia not wanting it. But, he knew that the only way to be sure they wouldn't say anything was if the charm was done to them.

So Harry let Sirius perform the other memory charm as Harry went to Virginia. "It was your mother," he said quietly. "She'd going to go to the hill where they play Quidditch and look for those two," he pointed at Bill and Ron. "I can help you get them down there and you can say they fell asleep."

"Did you have to Obliviate them?" she asked solemnly.

Harry nodded. "Virginia, they can't know or Sirius will get into a lot of trouble. You know Ron might tell and Bill definitely would."

"But if we explained it to them, maybe they would believe you," Virginia said, almost in tears.

Sullenly Harry shook his head. "They wouldn't, at least not now," he said, bending closer to Virginia. "I'm going to prove Sirius is innocent this year, and then it won't matter. I can stay here all summer without worrying."

With a flick of his wand, Harry had the two boys floating in the air in front of him. Virginia grabbed a hold of Ron's hand and Harry pulled Bill along as they headed down towards the makeshift pitch.

There was a dull silence for a long time until Harry decided he didn't like it. "Virginia... Gin. You know what you were talking about earlier, with Peter and all, what did he try to do to you?"

When Virginia stopped suddenly in front of him, Harry looked up to see her face contorted in disgust. "It happened just before I met you," she said quietly. "He was watching me while everyone was at Diagon Alley. Ron had slept in and didn't go with them like usual. Mum forgot to mention to Peter that Ron was here. Peter took me into my bedroom and started acting really weird. He started doing stuff to me and I didn't like it, he told me to be quiet and kept doing it, touching me. Ron came in a few seconds later and Peter stopped, I was crying. He warned us not to say anything at all or we'd be in a lot of trouble."

When she revealed the truth Harry felt as if he might puke. Every fiber of his being hated peter for what he'd done to his parents and now, somehow, he hated the man more. When Harry looked back up to her, his fist clinched, he noticed that Virginia had tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry Virginia. I didn't mean to bring it up."

"I know Harry," she said smiling, but with very little feeling behind it. "I know you wouldn't do something like that intentionally."

Virginia started to walk again and Harry followed silently. He hated Peter, the rat, he was so evil, Harry couldn't believe things were like this. A minute or two later Virginia stopped and Harry saw the clearing just up ahead. He tapped his wand onto the two boys and the dropped to the ground roughly. He then took one of the glamour candies and put it in his mouth. In a few seconds, he had blonde hair and blue eyes. He tapped his wand on the two boys again and awoke them then walked away with Virginia.

If the two saw him, Virginia could just tell them who he was, her friend that they'd been trying to catch. Then, with a hug he took off. "Gin' I'll see you in a couple days. Don't let them follow you next time," he said happily.

"I'm sorry Harry, I didn't mean to bring them," she said as he headed off

"Really, it's alright Ginny they don't remember. Just be careful."

Before Harry could get too far Virginia ran up to him and handed Harry something from her pocket. She left him alone and Harry walked back towards his shack taking the long route to insure he wasn't followed.

When he entered into the house he unfolded the parchment on it, in tiny, neat handwriting, was a list of everything he would need. He read over it for a minute and then handed the not to Sirius who nodded his head showing no other signs of what he was thinking.

"We will go to Diagon Alley Tomorrow to get everything," Sirius said.

Soon Harry would be going to Hogwarts, there he'd talk to Dumbledore. Sirius had always said he was a powerful and very good wizard. Harry wondered why Sirius hadn't at least tried to get Dumbledore to correct the mistake. "Sirius, why did you never tell people what really happened? Why didn't you turn Peter in Sirius?"

Sirius looked down at the ground. "I tried, I left notes when they found us. I even sent notes to Dumbledore several times. I couldn't very well receive anything and I never saw anything in the paper. I couldn't just give up either, I know what they wanted to do with me, if I had come in it wouldn't have been more than a few minutes before they had a Dementor. They've been sent in after us more than once."

Harry shuddered at the thought of the Dementors, they scared him ever so much. Sirius usually ended up carrying him when they showed up, he always saw his parent's dying and then Voldemort trying to kill him. Sirius had told him there was a spell that could drive them off but he didn't know it, he had only seen it once before.

Without pushing it anymore Harry just nodded. He would be the one that would take care of it, he'd talk with everyone himself. They wouldn't send a Dementor after him. Harry decided to go for a run, he needed to exercise and work out some of the stress from the day out. He moved out of the house and into some brushes before he changed. He was a little cautious, he hadn't always been so and been nearly caught twice. People thought it strange to see a wildcat running through the forests in England.

• Edited 2004.09.18 •


	4. Diagon Alley

Chapter 04

**• **Diagon Alley **•**

While Harry tried to get everything together for Diagon Alley Sirius waited very impatiently. "Harry come on, we need to get there before the main crowd," he said, after Harry asked for another minute for the fifth time.

Finally, when Harry appeared out the door he gave Sirius a grin, something that Sirius always did when he was at fault. It saved him from getting rattled by Sirius for taking so long. "How are we going to get there?" when he was sure Sirius wasn't angry.

"I've got a few tricks up my sleeve," Sirius replied, smiling. "Now, hurry up. Oh and take some Glamour Chocolate when you're done."

Of course, Harry already knew Sirius always did have a trick up his sleeve, he just wondered exactly what it was. "Ok Siri' I'll be right back."

Inside Harry grabbed a few varieties of the chocolates, just in case they needed to become different people for some reason.

By the time Harry made it back out Harry found that Sirius had already taken his glamour candy. Oddly enough, he didn't look anything like he usually did when he took the candy. His hair had shortened quite a bit, and his hair was a bright silver color. Even his eyes matched his hair, they were the coldest eyes Harry'd ever seen. When he glanced into them it reminded Harry of an incident with Peter Pettigrew's eyes only a few years back. It had been the worst experience he had ever had. The gaze of those evil eyes had almost felt like a Dementors presence.

Now, with Sirius in front of him, with eyes that were so similar, Harry felt drowned out by emotions. He closed his own eyes and took a deep breath, focusing on what was happening now. When his eyes opened again Sirius was staring at him concerned still with the soulless eyes. Harry shuddered involuntarily and looked away from the gaze. Harry resolved to himself not to look into those eyes again today. He quickly took his own piece and clenched as the transformation overtook him.

When Harry opened his eyes again he looked down at his hands, they were almost white. His tan that he had received from constantly being outside checking the traps he and Sirius had set, was gone. They really didn't need the traps, it just cut down on the time they had to spend in the village where it was unlikely, but possible to get caught. It also allowed to Harry feed in his Animagus form if he wanted to, something he'd grown quite fond of doing on occasion.

Harry looked into the single window of the cabin to check his appearance. Sometimes his scar did not disappear and he always had to be careful about that. Luckily, it was gone. His hair had lightened up to a strawberry blonde appearance and his jade eyes had dulled away from the piercing color. He took a comb and spiked the small amount of hair he had on his head, it didn't sit well and managed to look even worse than it had before. He fumbled for a few minutes but got nowhere, eventually deciding it didn't matter.

"Ok Siri' let's go."

Sirius stepped forward and removed his robe first. "You can't look like a wizard. You have to look like a muggle born, someone that hasn't grown up in the magical world."

Truthfully, he didn't care, but Sirius was the one in charge and he always kept them out of danger. They were going to Diagon Alley, that's all that mattered to him. He didn't care what anyone thought of him, they didn't know who he really was.

The name Harry Potter was constantly used as a hero figure. Yet even Harry hated to be that person. The name bore a reputation, he'd done it all as a child. _Saved _a mob of halfwits magical people from a terror they didn't truly understand. From a man who they refused to confront themselves, someone they were so terrified of that they were afraid to speak his name. What sort of delusions did they have to make them so afraid that even his name was spoken in fear?

In truth he was powerful, and scary. But surely a name could bring no consequences. Harry felt that the terror others had of him was as much an illusion as his _untouchable_ Death Eaters. They were not untouchable, they were like everyone else.

Harry didn't like many wizards, they didn't think things through. It was too easy for them, they liked to ignore what was wrong until it was too bad to ignore and then they would have to deal with something too difficult to deal with. Every book he had read about the evil wizards and warlocks of the not so distant past proved his point over and over. It only took a few people trying there best to overcome them, that was all it would ever take.

What made the illusion stay was the Death Eaters, they somehow still existed. While not as influential as they had been before, it was rumored they still recruited, waiting for the right time. Even since 'he' had disappeared, no one had been able to trace them. When they had been traced and a capture had been planned, they seemed to know about it every time. Harry knew of course, there was a mole. Well, not exactly a mole, a filthy plague-of-a rat to be more precise. It was likely the ministry suspected someone was betraying them, but no one seemed to be able to find the mole.

Harry stepped out into the sunlight and walked towards town behind Sirius he didn't know where they were going but wherever it was they would make it to Diagon Alley eventually. Stepping into a house that was a little out of the way made Harry feel exited. Sirius had pulled out a strange knife that he carried and picked the lock.

The house itself was empty. People had lived there recently, or still lived there. Now it was quiet, no one seemed to be home. Sirius put his finger to his mouth and walked to the mantel pulling down a flower. He reached down into the soil and pulled back a small fistful of sparkling powder. "Floo Powder" was all he said. He took his wand from his hidden holster and started a fire.

"Harry, throw this into the fire and say Diagon Alley. The traveling isn't difficult. Just don't go wandering off into a different fireplace I don't need to have to search the Floo Network looking for you."

Harry thought everything over, it didn't sound too difficult. He took the powder from Sirius and flung it into the fire. There was a flicker and then the fire changed hue to a brilliant green color. Harry stared at it for a moment. Saying "Diagon Alley," as he stepped into the flames. He felt a churning, like a roller coaster ride he had been on a few years previous. The feeling of being flung down at the ground was near the same, but this was intensified and yet not. He didn't feel like it was going to hurt him but the rush was enough to get his blood pumping.

Unable to keep his eyes from closing he watched as grate's passed one by one, people were sitting in front of them sometimes or people stood before them and warmed themselves. Children and adults all sorts of people just beyond a small window he couldn't reach through. Then without warning he found himself standing in a cobbled street just in front of a fireplace. He thought for a moment then moved away but it was too late, Sirius appeared nearly on top of them causing both to careen to the ground.

Harry muttered something under his breath and Sirius smacked him lightly on the head as he stood up. "I don't want to hear that sort of language from you. Your father would not be proud."

Harry nodded vaguely, his attention already drawn away from Sirius. Just across the way was a Quidditch Supply shop. A Nimbus 2000, like Harry had, in the window being displayed to its customers. Several small boys were smashed up against the window looking longingly at the broom. Harry already had the broom but he didn't have anything else, he hadn't even seen what a Bludger or snitch looked like. Sirius had spoken about them and he would be able to identify with them but he would have liked to actually have seen them.

"Siri' let's go to the Quidditch shop first, I want to look around for a few minutes."

Sirius looked sharp at him. "James, what did I tell you to call me last night?" Harry flinched. He knew the needed to have different names completely so people couldn't relate the names.

"Sorry, Seth. But can we go? Please."

Sirius nodded. Harry was still a kid, even if he did act too mature. Maybe Hogwarts would help him be a child again. Their life hadn't been something a child could survive in. Even the old Sirius had had to die, or at least disappear into some unknown place only peaking out on occasion. He wished so much that Harry could just be a kid and not a kid with the maturity of an 18 year old in many ways.

"Yes James, go ahead." Sirius followed behind Harry and watched his face light up as he went through some of the Quidditch instruments. He seemed fascinated by the Bludger display and tried to release them.

Sirius had jumped in and stopped him but the manager had smiled. "I've got a lot of children in here trying to do that. They are held magically, they can't be released accept by magic." Sirius still wished Harry didn't try to release them, it wouldn't have surprised him much if Harry had released them.

After Harry had examined the balls that were used to play he moved to look at the uniforms and bumped into an older guy. He looked at Harry he smiled at him. "Interested in playing Quidditch?" Harry just looked about for a minute. The boy extended his hand to Harry. "By the way, my name is Oliver Wood."

Harry nodded and accepted his handshake. "I am starting Hogwarts this year and I really wanted to be on the team."

Oliver laughed. "Well, you have to wait until your second year to play, but I'm sure if you want to bad enough you could get on then. I just got on the team two years ago and last year I was made captain of my house team. It really is a rush."

Harry was crestfallen, he would have to wait another year until he could be on the team. He really hoped he was good enough. Sirius had said he was very good and he would be able to, but he wasn't the coach. "Well, I guess I can wait until my second year. What house are you in?"

Oliver pulled out a set of gloves and felt them. "I am in Gryffindor. What house do you think you will be in?"

Harry rolled reached into his pockets and thought about it. His parents and Sirius were all Gryffindors he hoped that he could get in there. Maybe Ravenclaw if he didn't make Gryffindor. "I want to be a Gryffindor. My uncle and my mum and dad all were. My uncle thinks I would be but I don't know if I am good enough."

Oliver nodded and became very interested in another set of gloves. "Well, uhm, it was nice to meet you..."

Harry turned and left the Quidditch shop, it wouldn't matter until next year anyway. He couldn't be on the team until then.

Sirius suggested they get his potions supplies and accessories first. So both went into the Apothecary it smelled horrible, like a dung-bomb that Harry had found and set off. Harry crinkled his nose. "Seth this is horrible."

Sirius shook his head. "Just get what we need and then we can leave. Harry nodded and looked at his list gathering a scale set and a cauldron. Sirius had a small box that he got up front. He said it had everything that Harry would need for Potions and more.

Next Sirius decided Harry would need new robes, the ones they had were well worn and Sirius had had to resize to fit Harry as he grew. Harry stepped into the robes shop to find another set of girls already being fitted. He wondered if they were first years too, the looked about that age and were very eager to get the robes just right.

Harry sat down and waited for them to finish. One of them wanted her robes refitted twice and it was really annoying. The other was very quiet and allowed her sister to take her time. Harry eventually was able to get fitted. The girls watched him for a little while they awaited there robes. Harry felt funny standing there while they measured him. He could do anything, it was almost like he was exposing himself, allowing himself to get caught. Everything he and Sirius had worked for, being there but being invisible, it was like he was just allowing it all to leave and stood there in front of everyone.

Harry shook his head, brushing the thoughts away. He didn't need to worry so, he was only a kid after all. The measuring only took a few minutes while Sirius spoke with the attendant happily. Harry noticed he wasn't acting like he usually did, it was almost like he was flirting. The attendant didn't seem to mind at all and was talking to him also even while she fixed Harry's robes up.

When they had to leave Sirius took her hand and kissed it. It was sort of gross to Harry, but then he remembered the kiss the Virginia had given him, it wasn't gross, just different. He punched Sirius when they got out of the store. "What were you doing with that lady Si... Seth?"

Sirius grinned. "You know James, you are going to learn a lot before you graduate from Hogwarts. There are a lot of things about girls that will be different. The 6th year in school your father ad I dated almost ¾ of the female population of Hogwarts that was in 5th year or above. You'll understand in a couple of years, guys actually chase after girls. Sometimes, if you are sly enough you can get the girls after you. Anyway, where to now?"

Harry looked at the list. "Well, I still have to get all my books."

Sirius shrugged and swung himself around trying to locate the bookstore. Harry followed him down the path until they came to a large store called Flourish and Blotts. Harry opened the door and was greeted by a musty smell; it wasn't at all bad, somewhat euphoric actually. But it was still musty.

An attendant looked at Harry and Sirius then walked up to them. Harry left the note with Sirius and wandered around. He hadn't gotten any good books lately. They had been at the same place and not many wizards accept the Weasley's were around. He pulled down some curse books. "1001 Playful Curses" and another book, "Vengeance on a Friend.". They were just ordinary prank books. Harry had gotten enough pranks in his mind. Sirius had once used them, half the spells he knew could be used for them.

Wandering down another row of books he found some older books written in Latin. He wanted to understand it so he moved onto the next section trying to find a Latin book. He found the reference section and then the languages books. Slowly he went through a couple and picked out the one that looked most useful. He heard someone that sounded mad and he walked around the end of the bookcase to see what was going on.

Another girl was standing there and he rolled his eyes. He didn't much like being around boys but he hadn't seen many of them today at all. Maybe they would come later on. The girl was saying something to the older woman who Harry assumed was her mother. "Mum, please. I want to know everything about the school before I go to it."

"Hermione. No. I can't afford something like that. I didn't bring enough money today, your father and I have enough money I just don't have it today. Please just let's go. I don't feel well."

The girl, Hermione, was acting like a spoiled child. "No. Mum, I want this book before we can go."

Harry looked at the book, "Hogwarts: A History" he personally wouldn't mind having the book for himself. He watched the argument for another few minutes neither side ready to give up. Slowly he stepped forward and grabbed another copy. He looked at the Hermione. "Are you going to be a first year at Hogwarts?"

The mother looked at Harry and laid her head back against the bookcase relieved that Hermione wasn't yelling at her. Hermione stared at him for a minute and nodded her head. "I just found out I was a witch a week ago. Mum was really surprised. I want to know everything about being a witch. It's all so amazing."

Harry looked at Hermione and then her mother. Hermione decided to take advantage of Harry being there. "What do you think about this book?"

Harry looked at it for a second. "Well I was going to buy a copy."

Hermione's eyes darted to her mother. "See mum, even he is going to get a copy."

The older woman didn't move but sighed exhausted. "Then borrow his. I told you I can't get a copy today. We still have more things to buy."

Harry didn't really care, if she was going to Hogwarts she could borrow it, it wasn't as though he wouldn't be able to get it back from her. "I don't mind, you can borrow my copy."

Sirius appeared down at the end of the row with several books in one hand. "James what are you doing?"

Again the older woman looked up, first at Sirius and then at Harry. "I am so sorry, I didn't mean to tell her that I am just so tired and my head hurts so."

Harry shook his head. "No really ma'am I don't mind if she borrows it. I am going to get some more books and I don't think I'll have a hard time getting away from just that one."

Hermione didn't look at all happy. She frowned. Her mother stood up and started walking to the front. "Hermione, I need to go outside for a few minutes. I'll be waiting right out front."

Sirius grinned at Harry and winked following her out. He left the pile of books sitting at the end of the bookcase for Harry. Harry turned to Hermione who looked even more angry than before her mother had left. "What gives you the right to do that. I wanted that book. She was about to give in, I can't believe you ruined it."

Harry thought she was a little too arrogant but handed her the book. "Here, I'll let you keep it until Hogwarts then I can get it back and read it there. There are more books I am buying and I wont have time to read them all before I get there."

Hermione looked mystified. "Uh, thanks." She paused. "James right?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah, I am a first year too."

Hermione smiled, it gave her a much better look and Harry smiled back. Hermione fingered her book and saw the Latin one Harry had. "So what other books are you getting?"

Harry looked around. "I don't know, I was just going to buy some that I thought might be interesting. I haven't been here very long."

Hermione looked at the Latin book again. "You think Latin would be interesting? What about hexes and spells?"

Harry almost told her that he knew a lot of them already but then remembered that Sirius had told him not to tell anyone that. He was an underage wizard and shouldn't be able to perform spells before school anyway. "Yeah, but I have some of them at home."

Hermione smiled broader. "Want to find some other good books together. Maybe you could let me borrow some of those at school too."

Harry shrugged his shoulders, he didn't mind at all as long as he got them back. "Sure, what are you interested in?"

Hermione thought for a minute. "Everything."

They went through the store for another hour finding several books. Harry ended up having a stack of almost 20 books that he wanted to take with him about everything from fighting evil to making food magically. He had even grabbed a book about werewolves because he wanted to know what Remus was like. They sat all the books down at the front counter and Harry went to get Sirius.

Sirius was amazed at all the books Harry wanted but didn't say anything and bought them all. They were put into a magical bag and Harry handed Hermione the book she had been begging for earlier, "Hogwarts: A History" she thanked him. Harry stepped outside the shop with Sirius who had already gotten back to talking with Hermione's mother. Sirius stood, "James, we are going to go get a wand with your new friend."

Harry didn't mind, it was nice to see Sirius so happy. They walked down the path chatting while Harry and Hermione walked behind them, Hermione had already opened the book and was reading it. Harry had to pull her out of the way of several people she got very close to walking into. When Sirius finally stopped it was just in front of the wand shop, Ollivanders.

To Harry the place looked a little run down and very, very old. The door advertised the store to be "Makers of Fine Wands Since 382 B.C." There was a wand in the window, it was a bright yellow color sitting on a purple cushion.

Harry followed Sirius into the store quietly. The inside of the store was even smaller than the outside looked. With the 4 of them they stood close together. There was a single seat which Hermione finally took. The silence seemed to be overwhelming and Harry didn't like it very much.

Harry saw an elderly man appear on the side. "Hello. Beautiful day today isn't it?"

Hermione almost fell out of the chair when he spoke. Sirius wasn't surprised he had also noticed him coming. Sirius was the one that spoke up for everyone. "Hello. Yes, very beautiful weather today."

The man eyes Sirius and then looked at Hermione then finally at Harry. He stared for a very long time at Harry and narrowed his eyes. "Ah, and who would be seeking wands today?"

Hermione smiled. "I do and James. I just found out I was a wizard."

Mr. Ollivander turned to her and smiled. "And what is your name madam?"

Hermione smiled at the compliment. "Hermione Granger."

Mr. Ollivander nodded and walked to her. "Your wand arm is which?"

Hermione looked at him with a questioning look. "I am right handed, is that what you mean?"

Mr. Ollivander nodded and started measuring her arm. "Every wand we have is unique in some way. Each has a core of a special magical substance. Usually we find that unicorn hairs, phoenix feathers, dragon heartstrings work best with the customers. You will never find a better wand, and never an alike wand, akin perhaps, but never the same."

Mr. Ollivander walked into the back and pulled several boxes down. "Right, we will find you a wand, guaranteed. When you find your proper wand you will know, they choose who they fit with."

He sat the boxes down next to the chair Hermione was sitting in and took the measuring tape back into his hands. It had been working while he retrieved the boxes. He looked at it for a minute and then picked a box up. "Right, lets see. Oak and Unicorn hair, 8 inches, slightly whippy. Take it in your hands and give it a good wave."

Hermione flicked it around for a second and nothing happened. Mr. Ollivander nodded and pulled it away from her hand and replaced it with another. "Maple and dragon heartstring, supple, ten inches."

Hermione took it and flicked it around nothing happened again. Mr. Ollivander smiled as he replaced it again. Hermione looked like she was failing at something and her face dropped the more wands she tried. Mr. Ollivander seemed to be enjoying it. Harry felt that she needed a little teasing to bring her mood back. "Hermione, it looks as though you're a little too difficult for these wands."

Hermione turned to him and stuck out her tongue. Mr. Ollivander stopped though. "Difficult you say... Well, I have a wand that might just be right."

He stood and walked to the front window and pulled the yellow wand off the purple satin pillow. "Well, Satinwood and a very interesting core. It was one of the original wands made in this shop, never has found an owner. The core is made of several magical hairs braided together. Let's see, Unicorn hair, a Nundu hair, and also a Griffins hair. We only made two wands with multiple magical hairs as cores. Neither ever sold and one was destroyed in an accident. This one survived but wasn't in good condition, I recently reused its core and made this wand."

Mr. Ollivander looked at it reverently. "I don't know if I'll ever find an owner for it that meets its qualifications. I think it's the Nundu hair, took a few wizards to get a hold of it. Very stubborn wand it is, ten and a half inches quite rigid."

Hermione took the wand and her face lit up, she swished it into the air and the whole room felt like it was pressing against Harry. The roof lit up like it was on fire. Mr. Ollivander smiled brightly. "Well, I never thought I would see the day that that one left here. You, young lady, must be careful with a wand like that."

Hermione smiled brightly and stood up. Harry took her place quietly and Mr. Ollivander started measuring him too. "Well James..."

Sirius spoke up. "White. James White."

Mr. Ollivander nodded. "Well, let's find you a wand."

He placed several of the wands Hermione had tested to the side but left nearly half of them there. "Mahogany and dragon heartstring. Very supple, a good nine inches."

Harry waved it above his head and nothing happened. Mr. Ollivander took the wand. "Well, Walnut and unicorn hair. Slightly whippy, seven inches."

Nothing happened as Harry waved the wand again. Mr. Ollivander had it replaced in only moments. "Ash and...." Harry listened as they went through several wands. Hermione was grinning as Harry started feeling uncomfortable. He had used his father's wand so much, maybe he couldn't get a new wand.

Mr. Ollivander finally stopped for a minute and Harry looked at his face. There was a large smile. "Well, two tricky customers in one day. Let's see what we can do about that."

Harry sat and waited while Mr. Ollivander disappeared into the back of the store. He came out with a few minutes later. "I was saving these for some tricky customers. Let's see how they work." He opened one of the boxes and handed the wand to Harry. "Koa and Acromantula hair. A very unusual combination and a very springy nine inches."

Harry felt the wand in his hand and he swing it in the air, nothing. Mr. Ollivander took it and it was replaced slowly by another. "Tricky wand, this one, made one other that was similar. Holly and phoenix feather from a very old and powerful phoenix. Eleven inches, very supple. Was saving this one for another customer but let's see how it likes you."

Harry waved it and felt very warm, the wand sparked and the room lit. Mr. Ollivander grinned brightly. "Just as I thought. Yes, a very good match. It is a powerful wand Mr. White. As with young Ms. Granger you must be careful with your wand. This one in particular, I created a brother to it and I'm afraid its owner was able to use it for some very powerful spells. It in fact killed many, many people. Ended up destroying himself in the end, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named tried to kill a young boy named Harry Potter."

Harry gulped, watching Mr. Ollivander eye him. "I think that both of you will become strong wizards in the future. Heed my warning, be careful with the powers you develop."

Hermione smiled brightly and paid Mr. Ollivander for the wand. Harry felt a little uncomfortable as he awaited Sirius to pay for the wand. Mr. Ollivander kept looking at him. "Who did you say your parents were James?"

Harry looked at him and Sirius took the wand and hurried out the door. Hermione was right behind them. Sirius looked at Harry. "Have we forgotten anything?"

Harry nodded, "an owl. You said we could get a special owl."

Sirius nodded, Hermione jumped in. "could we stop at the Fezzy's Animals Galore? I wanted to see about getting a pet."

Sirius looked at her mother who shook her head and sighed. "Hermione, how about we go look for a little while and let your mom get some rest."

Hermione looked at her mom who gently nodded her head. "I'll sit out front and wait for you dear."

Hermione ran off ahead and Harry followed her not wanting her to take of to far. She seemed to know where she was going and finally stopped in front of a large store that's window were filled with cages and all sorts of animals.

Hermione walked in and rushed over to the cats. She played with some of the kittens for a while and Harry wandered down the various rows. He spotted a small area of snakes and walked over to them. It had been a long time since he had done so, but he had found out as a child he could actually speak with them. It was sort of nice but it scared away most of the other kids. He hadn't ever told Sirius because he had been afraid of him being angry.

Harry closed his eyes and thought for a moment, he hissed. "Hello."

Several of the snakes turned towards him and propped themselves up to look directly at him. One of the largest that was almost able to come to eyelevel with Harry spoke. "You can ssspeak to usss?"

Harry smiled. "Yes. I have always been able to." several of the smaller snakes hissed behind him about all sorts of things.

The large snake hissed for them to be quiet and then there was no sound from any of them. "Boy, will you tell the man in front that sssome of usss aren't getting enough food? The sssmall red onesss aren't doing well at all, they are barely sssurviving."

Harry nodded and walked up to the front. "Uh, sir?" the man looked at Harry. "I, uh, your snakes, the little red ones aren't getting enough food."

The man looked at him like he was crazy. "And how do you know that?"

Harry looked at him surprised, he wondered if very many people could talk to snakes or if he was the only one. "Uh, the sort of told me."

The man almost fell out of his seat. "What you think you're a parselmouth or something?"

Harry was confused. "A parselmouth? Uh, what's that?"

The man stood and walked around the counter then down the isle to where Hermione was now standing near the snakes. "Ok, which red ones."

Harry looked at the large snake. "Uh, which ones?" he hissed. The manager jumped back as Harry did.

"You, you're a parselmouth."

The large snake rocked a little back and forth and then turned and nodded his head slightly towards some red snakes in the corner. Harry turned to a now terrified manager. "He said that those ones are not being fed enough."

The manager grabbed Harry by the neck. "I don't want no Parselmouths in here get."

Harry was dropped out the front door near a very surprised Sirius. "Uh, Harr.. James, what happened?"

Hermione came running out the door a minute later. "Mum, James can talk to snakes!"

Harry closed his eyes waiting for Sirius to start yelling at him. Nothing happened and Harry warily opened his eyes, Sirius had his mouth opened in shock. He didn't say anything at all just stood and started walking across the street to the Eeylops Owl Emporium. Harry followed him in and stood behind them. Hermione was still across the street talking excitedly to her mother when Harry moved through the door.

The place was darkly lit and Harry found himself not able to see well at all. Sirius grabbed his shoulder and led him up front to the attendant who greeted the happily. "Hello, are you two looking for anything specific today?"

Sirius shook his head and the attendant smiled again. "Well, we have a fine selection of Tawny, Screech, Barn and Brown owls today. We recently sold our last Snowy owl, won't be getting any in for a few days."

Harry listened and watched as the attendant showed him several owls, none seemed to be right. Everything in his life had always had some sort of connection to him and he wasn't getting any from any of the owls. Most didn't seem to like him much anyway. Sirius told him he had to find one he liked so he would have an owl. Harry took another loop around through the various rows and felt a little tingling as he came to a dark corner where he didn't see bright owls peering at him.

The attendant took a minute to find him and Harry looked into the corner and asked what sort of owl was back there. The cage was abnormally large but there was nothing but shadows that Harry could see. The attendant made a funny sound and then pulled out his wand, carefully unlocking the door.

He reached in with his other hand and a dark owl swept down from above and landed on his arm. Harry watched as his arm was pulled back out of the cave. It wasn't an owl that was on his arm, some sort of hawk. The man raised him up to Harry and the bird waved it's head then flapped his wings and made a kik-kik-kik-kee sound. The man looked a little surprised. "Well, he seems to like you. It's the first time that has happened. Someone brought this fellow in to trade for an owl. Didn't really want to trade but we did. Had him for almost a year and never liked anyone."

Harry looked eagerly at Sirius, "please?"

Sirius looked at the attendant. "What sort of bird is he?"

The attendant smiled. "A Merlin Falcon, he is just about 2 years old now. The live about 15 years normally. This one must have been imported from America, don't see them around here. They don't grow any bigger, but he has had charms put on him so he can carry much more than you would expect."

The hawk made his kik-kk-kik-kee sound again and Harry petted him. The falcon jumped from the attendants arm to Harry's shoulder without even spreading his wings. He rubbed himself up against Harry. Sirius shook his head. "We'll take him."

Harry grinned brightly. He stroked the falcon. "What shall I call you?"

The falcon let out another call and Harry closed his eyes for a minute trying to recall a good name. "How about Hermes?" There was no sound. "Ok, no go. How about Aura?" Still nothing. Harry thought again. You come from America, lets give you something from over there. "How about Paka'a?" There was a screech and Harry knew that was what he would call him or her, he wasn't sure.

"Well, I'll call you Paka for short." Harry walked to the front desk, "is Paka male or female?"

The attendant was busily taking Sirius money. "It is a male," he said off-hand.

Harry nodded and walked outside. Hermione was still sitting with her mother whose head was against the window. Hermione had the book he had let her borrow wide open and was looking through it. She smiled when Harry came up in front of her. "I guess I'll see you soon right? I'll look for you on the train."

Harry wondered if that was how he was going to get there but nodded, adding slyly. "Yeah, I can't be having you getting smarter than me."

Hermione smiled. "Well, at least I will have a friend. I never had many, always to much of a teacher's pet I think."

Harry grinned. "I won't hold it against you."

Hermione pushed him. "Well, we'll see if I say hi to you on the train." She turned to her mother. "Mum, I said goodbye, we can go home now." Her mother smiled weekly and stood up.

Harry feeling bad for Hermione's mother pulled out his wand. "Let me fix that headache."

Hermione watched interested as Harry performed a quick relaxation spell on her head. Hermione mom smiled at Harry. "Thank you so much, I can't believe it's that easy. Hermione will have to learn to do that."

Hermione shook her head. "We aren't suppose to do magic outside of school." She looked at Harry.

Sirius came up behind him. "Well lady's we must be going, have appointments we don't want to be late for."

Harry followed behind Sirius with a last wave and smiled, he had two friends now. Only one was going to Hogwarts this year though. Sirius took out a small bag and gave Harry some Floo Powder. "Say 'The Hideaway'"

Harry nodded, threw the powder into the fire, stepped into it. "The Hideaway"

• Edited 2004.09.18 •


	5. Hogwarts

Chapter 05

• Hogwarts •

Sirius had known what he was doing. It should have been easy. Harry would have simply board the train to Hogwarts and explain everything once he was there. Well, it hadn't exactly turn out that way. Harry and Sirius had gotten to the train station to find that the train had already left, they were too late. Sirius, who had more ways of getting there than he wanted to know, headed back to home to decide the way Harry would be getting to Hogwarts.

The car they had 'borrowed' from the village rattled along. Harry didn't feel very safe in it, it seemed to be held together by a string or two.

Sirius looked down at Harry's sad expression. "We can still get there on time. No worries."

Harry nodded his head and just watched silently hoping the strings didn't break. The drive was very boring so Harry recited the things he planned in his head. A list he had been making to insure he did everything right. Sirius would be freed if it was the only thing he did at Hogwarts. Maybe Hermione could help him. Virginia had already started, he would sent Paka to her for the time being.

Paka was above them. He didn't enjoy a cage very much, which was all the car was really, a big cage. Harry had found Paka was very intelligent, and not just for mail. He could hunt too. It was actually quite entertaining to watch Paka as she sought her prey.

Sirius said something and Harry looked up at him. "Harry. We are going to go to Hogsmeade and get to Hogwarts from there."

Harry nodded. Trips to Hogsmeade, he planned on making a few of them before the year was up. Sirius had told him all about the secret passages and the map. The twins were going to have an encounter with the Marauders before the year was up and Harry would get back the map. If that didn't work he would come forward and ask them to share it with him.

The town became visible as they passed over the rise. Sirius muttered something about checking his list when they stopped at the house. Disappearing he left Harry to continue to wonder if Hogwarts would be different then Sirius had explained. Sirius was excessively imaginative when it came to some of the times at Hogwarts.

Harry personally wondered if what he had said about some of the teachers and the halls were true. He would have to find out for himself. Maybe they wouldn't trust him though. Maybe he wouldn't be accepted. He knew magic already, maybe they wouldn't want him.

When Sirius reappeared out the door he had a parchment in his hands that he was reading. Harry ignored him and wondered how far Sirius was going to go, if he would just drop him off at Hogwarts and allow him to venture through the secret passages himself or if he would guide him to Hogwarts and leave him just before the passage opening. If it was Harry's choice he would take the garden passage, it was the fastest one according to Sirius, large and easy to run in. Harry knew about them all. Sirius rambled on many times about adventures and Harry waited, waited for the right time.

Sirius pulled up in front of the house they had used before. He waited a few minutes then got out of the car and pulled out Harry's baggage. The fire was already roaring when Harry came in. Sirius handed him some Floo powder and simply said. "Hogsmeade."

Harry flicked the powder into the fire and then stepped in pulling his baggage behind him. "Hogsmeade." He was off, on the rollercoaster ride of a lifetime. This trip lasted much longer and had many more twists.

When Harry finally rolled out of the fire he felt queasy. He pulled his trunk away from the fireplace and stood for a minute catching his breath and allowing his head to quit spinning. Sirius appeared behind him looking much more pale and taking deep breaths. Harry smiled, and Sirius grinned back. "Which one shall we take?"

It was the question.

Harry thought it over and still figured the Gardens would be the best path He pointed towards the gardens and started walking there. It was evening but Hogsmeade was as full as it could be, people bustling around between the shops trying to buy things. Only a few people even noticed Harry at all, most likely only because of the space that his trunk and broom were taking up.

Sirius meshed well with the crowd and disappeared several times when Harry glanced back. Harry wasn't worried, the Glamour Chocolate was still in effect and no one would recognize him looking like he did. Harry finally found the side street Sirius had described and walked down it, away from the crowd.

The noise almost completely vanished in just a few moments and Harry entered into the garden gates. It was amazing that so few people actually came here, it was so beautiful. Harry walked down the path to a far wall and awaited Sirius.

Sirius seemed to be in a fantastic mood when he finally entered a few minutes later. The grin was enough to tell Harry that Sirius missed the wizarding world just as much as Harry thought he did. Harry knew that getting Sirius back into this world, this amazing world, would be the best present Sirius had ever received.

Harry knelt and tapped on the discolored brick then kicked it as hard as he could. Slowly the brick changed color and the bricks around it did also. When every brick had changed color in the form of a doorway Harry reached out and touched it. There was nothing that contacted his hand and Harry stepped through the wall. Sirius stepped in too.

"Harry, this is where I am going to leave you. The other side simply opens at your touch. You know as much about Hogwarts as most of the students could ever know. I trust you will enjoy it. Remember to keep in contact. I already sent Kapa to Dumbledore explaining everything. He should be getting there soon."

Harry looked at Sirius and almost started crying. He forced himself to stop though. He wouldn't let Sirius see him cry. He was a big boy and didn't need to cry. Sirius hugged him tightly and whispered in his ear. "Harry, I taught you everything I could. Be careful in the real world, you know what you did. I don't know what people will look at you like now that everything has happened. Remember I will always be thinking of you."

Sirius let go and looked directly into Harry's eyes. "There are things you can do that people won't accept easily. A Parselmouth, I still can't believe it myself, it was always seen as ev... Harry, listen to me. Find people, friends you can trust. I found mine and I still hide from them, be very careful about how your friendships develop."

Harry nodded and Sirius turned around and exited the path. Harry heard him say one last thing as he walked away. "I will love you always Harry."

Harry bowed his head and almost turned back around. He couldn't leave Sirius. He stopped and thought for a long time about what he was about to do. To walk into Hogwarts was going to set him free in some ways but lock him down in others. Could he do it?

Harry took a deep breath and looked at the darkened tunnel ahead of him and started walking. He would do it, he could do anything. Sirius had always told him he could do anything and he had yet to fail. He took one step at a time feeling a chill and then a feeling somewhere inside his stomach telling him not to go. He ignored it, he could do it, Sirius wanted him to do it.

After what seemed like a million steps and hours of walking Harry came to a wall. All he had to do was touch it and he would be inside Hogwarts. His heart beat faster and he trembled as he reached out to touch the wall. As he did a hand reached through and pulled at him hard. Harry didn't know what to do, he felt himself being pulled through the wall and then moments later found an evil looking man standing over him grinning.

"So, I caught someone trying to sneak into the castle." He eyed Harry for a long time. "Sort of young to be sneaking in. You ain't a first year. What sort of tricks you be trying to pull? Well, we go to the headmaster about this one."

Before Harry could do anything he found himself being pulled along. His wand was in his trunk which he held tightly onto with his free hand, he didn't want his stuff to disappear. The wicked looking man stopped for a moment and pulled some doors open. Harry found himself staring at a room full of kids, some his age some older.

Harry started taking deep breaths, his heart beating faster than it ever had in his life. An elderly man stood up at the other end of the room. His voice was cut through all the noise of the room like a dagger. "Mr. Filch, I expect there is good reason you have interrupted the sorting ceremony."

Harry's eyes locked onto a student who was pulling a battered hat off her head. She must have just been sorted, and the hat must be the sorting hat. Filch grinned again, looking as wicked as ever. "Caught a youngster trying to sneak onto the grounds."

Filch pulled Harry around him to show Professor Dumbledore. At the same moment Harry felt the Glamour chocolate wearing off. He closed his eyes and let the feeling envelope him trying not to get sick in front of the whole school. When he opened them again everyone was staring at him in shock. Harry felt his knees start to grow week and his head lighten, it was as though he was going to faint. For a moment he focused, he needed to stand up to them, prove he wasn't weak.

Paka swooped into the room and onto Dumbledore's shoulder. Harry felt a little relieved that he wouldn't have to explain everything himself. Dumbledore opened the letter and read it carefully then nodded. "Very well. Filch, why don't you bring this young man up to join his fellow classmates in line."

Dumbledore then bent down and whispered something to an elderly professor who seemed a little surprised but nodded. She walked back to the place she had been standing. "We have a late entry. Potter, Harry! Please place the hat upon you head to be sorted."

Harry looked stunned as Filch pushed him up to the seat where the Sorting hat lay. The name seemed to trigger a response by every single student in the room. Most of them gasped and started whispering between themselves. Some just watched him passed wide-eyed. A few teachers smiled happily and one small one clapped as loud as possible.

Harry picked it up the sorting hat as soon as he reached it. He knew exactly what the sorting entailed and would rather have the hat on his head than be looking at all the students. He dropped his luggage and used both hands to position the hat on his head. It only took a moment for the hat to start talking.

"Well, well another Potter. I see you have your father's courage and your mothers ease of mind. Well, trustworthy and loyal too. I don't know, you wouldn't mind proving yourself to anyone, but it isn't first priority. Do you have any particular house that you are interested in? I say, any house would do well for you, Knowledge, Perseverance, Courage, Loyalty, and a willingness to show you can do anything. I don't know."

Harry took a long minute to think, he had always wanted Gryffindor, but was that what he wanted now. He would _not_be in Slytherin, if the hat chose Slytherin he would tell it to choose again and refuse to accept its opinion. Hufflepuff wasn't completely out of the question but he didn't enjoy being a follower as much as he enjoyed doing things on his own. So, Ravenclaw or Gryffindor? Would he rather be smart of brave?

Well it was a tossup. He wondered which would help him more in the end. The Ravenclaws would always be about working and studying. He may be smart but Harry decided it was best not to dedicate his life to learning, it helped but wasn't something he wanted to do forever. Still, it seemed, Gryffindor was the best choice. 'I want to be Gryffindor' he told himself and hoped the hat was listening.

"Are you sure? You could do well in any of the houses. In Slytherin you could bring out your potential and become a great wizard. In Ravenclaw you could become one of the smartest, if you applied yourself. I see you have already become several years ahead of the other students here. Hufflepuff could help you find your place, Gryffindor as well. Let's see, if you would like to be in Gryffindor I guess that is the best for you. It is after all, your destiny is chosen by yourself, I just help guide you into it."

Harry listened waiting for the hat to call out the house but heard nothing. It seemed the hat was thinking. Finally the words... "GRYFFINDOR!"

Harry slowly pulled the hat down off his head and noticed that the hall was completely silent. Dumbledore was nearing Harry. He clamped his hand down on Harry. "We need to speak following the ceremony and dinner. I will be waiting for you in the common room."

Harry nodded and looked down, his luggage was gone. He assumed someone had taken it away to either be searched or for his room, either way he would get it back soon enough. Harry slowly made his way down the stairs to the Gryffindor table. He saw Ron Weasley a few seats down looking at him strangely. Further down the table he saw a familiar face. Hermione.

Harry quickened his pace and sat down right next to her. "Hermione! Am I glad to see you."

It took a moment for her to say anything but she finally did. "James?"

Harry nodded slightly and she threw her arms around him. "I didn't see you at all on the train. I searched the whole train too. I thought you had missed it. But... You aren't really named James are you? You really are THE Harry Potter."

There was a moment of silence while Harry let the words sink in finally he nodded again. She looked at him strangely, "then your uncle was really..."

Harry put his finger to his lips to silence her and nodded again. He could talk to her later about it. In the background he heard another name being called. Blaise, Zabini. There was another moment and then she was called to Gryffindor. No one seemed to take any notice of her as she sat down. Everyone was watched Harry who was now sitting silently watching Blaise sit down at the table.

Looking down he saw a gold plate that reminded him of how sick he had been only moments before. He looked up again trying to avoid direct eye contact with anyone specifically. Dumbledore stood drawing several people's attention. He seemed a little reserved as though he was thinking about something until he spread his arms widely.

Following the motion he smiled brightly. "Welcome students. I am happy to have all of you here for the new year. We have already had a few surprises this year, quite unexpected to say the least. Very well, now, please enjoy the banquet you are about to participate in." There was silence as if the older students were waiting for him to say something else but nothing else came.

In front of him suddenly appeared dinner. Harry wondered if he could eat at all at the moment. Everyone's eyes till seemed to be focused on him. Paka called to him from above, Harry released a little anxiety. From the cry Harry could tell Paka was definitely slightly hungry. He swooped down and landed on Harry shoulder. Hermione offered him a small piece of food and he took it willingly. She stroked him again then went about eating, occasionally feeding Paka.

Harry just sat there and wished he would have come in later in the evening, after the sorting ceremony, when Dumbledore would have been alone. Maybe Filch wouldn't have even caught him then. Paka left his shoulder just prior to dinner finishing leaving Harry with Hermione.

Hermione was very quiet. She seemed to be thinking about something, Harry wondered what it was. He was very glad that Hermione had made it into Gryffindor. She seemed more along the lines of Ravenclaw or Slytherin even if she was muggle born. The teachers seemed to be discussing things quietly up in front and Harry hoped that it wasn't about him even though it probably was.

As dessert came out many of the people at the table seemed to loosen up around them. Harry listened at some of there conversations. Some of them were very reserved. A well-to-do boy just across from Harry who had a very polite smile introduced himself. "Names Neville. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Harry nodded and shook his hand. There was a sort of strength in them, something Harry didn't see any many other people. Next to him was another boy, a dark haired boy. He started to introduce himself when someone interrupted and he looked up. Harry turned around and to find Ron standing behind him.

Harry smiled weakly at Ron and turned back to stare at the plate that had been untouched. He moved the desert around and picked at it until Ron spoke. "I know you from somewhere don't I?"

Harry shrugged his shoulders and continued staring at his food. Ron didn't move though, Hermione turned around and stared at him for a minute. "What's wrong, is Harry just here to be goggled over?"

Ron still didn't move. Harry could here him whispering under his breath. "Harry, Harry, Harry..." He put his arm on Harry and spun him around. "Harry! As in my sister's Harry?"

Ron stared for a minute somehow finally realizing he was right. "Yeah, I knew I had seen you somewhere before! With the blond hair, I saw you one day at the makeshift Quidditch pitch near our house. If you don't leave my sister alone...!"

Harry stood quickly and turned to face him speaking softly but very clear. "What? You'll do what Ron? You don't even remember when we really met. You couldn't do anything to me, neither could any of your brothers. Virginia is my friend, don't bother her about it."

Ron was quickly joined by three other brothers. It hadn't taken long for the situation to heat up even if Harry had been quiet. The twins stepped forward and Harry shook his head. "I know some secrets about you too. The Marauders are friends of mine, well some of them. Seems you have been using they once created. Don't want Filch to know about it do you?" He finished, still trying to be quiet, maintain control over the situation. Both the twins stepped back and whispered to each other about something. Neither took a step forward again. Percy stepped forward. Harry didn't even want to bother with him.

Ron was still angry and Harry didn't want to be bothered about the friendship between he and Virginia. "If you weren't so short sided you might figure out that we are friends. Only friends, I don't see anything wrong with having a girl as a friend." Harry just shook his head feeling much more in control of himself than he had at first.

Ron didn't know what to do. Several people had approached the two and Hermione was pulling back against Harry. "Teachers are coming. We're all going to get into trouble."

Harry turned and sat back down in his seat again leaving everyone around him to try to figure out what had happened. Ron tried to return to his seat but was stopped by a teacher.

"So, it seams the Gryffindors are already causing trouble even before dinner is over." Harry took a second to glance up. A tall dark individual with greasy black hair was reprimanding Ron.

Another teacher stopped the first from saying anything. She grabbed Ron by the ear. "So another trouble making Weasley. We'll see about that." Harry noticed that the twins had disappeared without being noticed. Percy had merged into the crowd with the rest of the students that were surrounding Ron.

The newest teacher that had joined them set everyone quiet. An older gentleman, his presence seemed to demand respect. Harry watched him approach Ron. He sat his hand on Ron who was looking up at him strangely. He slowly bowed his head. "Sorry sir." Then took his seat and didn't even look back up.

Harry watched as the teachers spoke between themselves and then walked back up to the front. The older female hadn't seemed happy that the third teacher had interrupted and the first, the greasy haired one seemed as though he wanted to do something at that moment, something horrible. Harry could feel his misery as he walked away. It was as though it were spreading around him.

Harry looked away, he didn't like the first and somehow found that the 3rd was someone he would enjoy being around. Hermione was not eating either. She just sat, staring at her food. Professor Dumbledore stood again and the hall slowly fell silent.

"Well, there are a few basic rules that I feel are best to announce right now. First and foremost, the Forbidden Forest is off-limits, I believe the first years would be wise to follow this council. It would also be wise for a few of the older students to remember this."

There was a glance, Harry followed it down to the table just in front of him. The twins.

"I believe that the students will be interested to know, Quidditch trials will be held a little late this year, 4th week of term. If you are interested in playing for your house team please speak with Madam Hooch." Filch stepped forward and looked at Dumbledore.

Dumbledore nodded. "One last thing. The care taker, Mr. Filch has asked that I remind all students that Magic is not allowed between classes in the hallways. Apparently there were a few occurrences in the halls last year where a little excessive magic was used. Students were seriously injured. NO DUELING. Now enjoy your evenings. We will finish off with the school song and then retire to our rooms."

Dumbledore led the school along in the official song. Harry found it amusing and very enlightening to hear several hundred people singing to a foolish song. It made him feel much better to here so many people off tune and off beat. The twins themselves sung at a pace that allowed Harry to have a good laugh deciding that they might be more delightful . When finished Harry stood and applauded their effort along with Dumbledore and a few occasional students.

Harry stood with the other students and followed Hermione out the door. It took a moment but Harry was not surprised to be pushed aside. A blonde boy about his age sneered at him. "So, it seams the infamous Harry Potter has come to grace our presence at this school. Fancy the entrance he made?"

Two boys behind him nodded mutely. The blonde boy stepped forward, running his hands through his hair. He offered Harry his hand. "Draco Malfoy pleased to meet you."

Harry laughed. He had heard about the Malfoy's and he wouldn't be caught dead with one of them. They played dirty and were evil, he was sure already just with his introduction that this Malfoy was no different. Harry curtly turned from Draco. He didn't even want to associate with someone like that. Hermione grabbed him. "What do you think you are doing? He was being nice."

Harry flipped back around and looked at her. Draco stared open mouthed at Harry. Harry finally got an idea. "Well, Malfoy. This is Hermione. She is a muggle born witch and very enjoyable to be around. She is my friend and I would love for you to say hello to her too."

Malfoy closed his mouth and looked at her saying something under his breath. Harry was sure he knew what it was and also knew that Hermione wouldn't understand and that at the moment she didn't. Without Malfoy reacting he would not be able to convince Hermione of his true intentions. He pulled out Hermione's hand and offered it to Draco. Draco stood still for a moment and stared at Harry then realized that Harry really intended for Draco to shake her hand.

Draco shook his head and spat on the ground. "A Malfoy doesn't shake hands with a mudblood."

Hermione looked confused as Draco stalked off. "Harry, why did he do that? What is a mudblood?"

Harry shook his head and caught up with the group of Gryffindors staying a good distance behind so his conversation wouldn't arouse talk. "Hermione, listen. A mudblood is a term to refer to muggle born witches and wizards, it's like calling you a tramp or a whore or a female dog. It is one of the most degrading terms he could have used. He is a Malfoy, rich and refined and a pureblood wizard through and through. He has been trained to hate muggle born such as you, it is the way he is."

Hermione was miffed, she didn't understand at all. What was so different between muggle born witches and wizards? They all had the same powers so to speak, some having less some more, never a definite connection between blood. It had all been explained to here in the interview where she found out that the invitation to Hogwarts was real.

Harry pulled her behind him as she thought, he didn't want her to get lost and have a bad experience in the castle her first day. The group slowed and Harry saw some interaction in the front of the group with a ghost of some sort. Harry wondered which one it was until he saw several dozen water balloons fly through the air and strike some of the students. It wasn't a ghost at all, just Peeves. Harry had heard some far-fetched tales about Peeves the Poltergeist before and thought it might be fun to tease him the next time he met him.

It took only a few more minutes to reach the common room. Harry spent the whole time watching the halls trying to relate them to the hallways that Sirius had spoken of. Hermione looked around in wonder and Harry found himself enjoying the fact that he was there. His thoughts turned to Sirius, soon he would start working on his freedom, possibly tonight with Dumbledore.

SNEAK OFF- PULL A PRANK

Harry watched ahead as the came to the portrait covering the common room, it was the same on Sirius had spoken to him about. The woman in the dress looked down on them with a smile as the password was given. When she swung open Harry watched the first years enter and followed them. The common room was large, but still inviting. Large comfortable looking armchairs and couches were placed all around the room. To one side was a very warm looking fireplace.

Harry stood in the entrance way until some older Gryffindors pushed him out of the way. This snapped Harry out of his revere. He slowly went up to the dorms where the other first year boys had disappeared. His trunk was placed at the end of one of the beds already when he entered. Every other bed had boys in it already and some where even already asleep. The day must have been exhausting for him.

Harry sat in his bed for only a moment and then got back up, he didn't want to fall asleep and miss the talk with Dumbledore. He walked back downstairs to find several of the older students drinking Butterbeer and having a good time. Harry wondered why they were so happy. Then he heard one of them say something about it being their last year.

They must be 7th year students that were graduating this year. They seemed to be celebrating the beginning of the end basically, one year left.

The portrait opened and Dumbledore stepped into the room. His eyes twinkled as he noticed the seventh years who had quieted considerably. He took Harry shoulder in hand led him to a sofa where Harry sat down. Dumbledore shook his head and pointed to the door. "Outside." He winked at Harry, dissolving some of the tension that Harry was feeling. The twinkle in his eye made Harry feel better about talking to him and he knew why people looked up to him.

Harry nodded and stepped outside the portrait door. There was a long moment of silence before Dumbledore actually spoke up. Harry watched him think some things over thoroughly in his mind before speaking. "Harry. I understand you have lived with Sirius Black for most of your life. I would like to ask you some questions about him."

It took a moment before Harry showed any signs of acknowledgment. He wanted to be in more control over where the conversation would go. Usually it was easy to gain control without being too pushy. It wasn't something that was going to be simple in this conversation, he had to word everything carefully. "He raised me in my fathers place."

Dumbledore nodded slowly and allowed Harry to feel a little more at ease. "I just want to ask you a few simple questions about things that have happened during that time. I would also like to speak to you about what happened before."

"He was a good father Professor, he taught me about the evils and good in life. It doesn't matter anyone else's opinion of Sirius he didn't do it."

Again Dumbledore nodded much more pronounced. "I had thought you would believe as much. Tell me though, is there any proof? I have often wondered myself on this point, but never had heard anything to back up him in any matter. He hasn't even contacted me in his own defense."

Harry wondered if it was true, Sirius has told Harry he had owled Dumbledore more than a few times to try and get his freedom. Harry wondered if they owls were intercepted, but if they were why was Paka not stopped? Harry looked at Dumbledore. "He did. I don't know why you never received them but tried to tell you many times."

Harry pulled a coin out of his pocket and started rolling it across his fingers. "Sirius told me everything that happened. About the secret keeper, the charm, my parents dying. It made me hate Sirius for a while because if he hadn't suggested Peter replace him it never would have happened. I got over it though. Sirius still blames himself for it, and he tried the best he could to fix everything."

Dumbledore smiled. "I had thought as much. So, it was Peter that became the secret keeper. I had wondered, he seems to have a knack for getting into trouble and doing foolish things. I have been called to help him out in more than one instance. My confidence in him has severely diminished. I wondered what brought some of his troubles about."

The truth was music to Harry, Dumbledore believed him, at least believed that Sirius might not have done it. Now all they had to do was prove it. "Can we just make Peter tell the truth and let Sirius go free?"

The answer was not what Harry wanted to hear. "I am afraid we cannot simply bring it out like that, the politics of our world are very edgy right now. If someone were to simply do something like that it could be devastating to several people. I myself would be staking my reputation on it. It wouldn't be a problem normally, but I have to be careful about who I back there are some problems within the ministry."

Dumbledore looked hard at Harry. "I am afraid Voldemort is back. There are Rumors flying around everywhere and I need to keep a good foothold in the ministry to allow me to take care of things incase he is still as influential as he was."

Voldemort was back? It couldn't be possible. He had died hadn't he? Harry felt sick. "He is back. You are sure?"

Dumbledore nodded. "Yes. I am only telling you this because he is most likely to come after you. Many people that know want to keep it a secret for now but I do not follow their ideas. It would be best to tell people."

That was it, the truth. Would Harry be able to keep it a secret? Voldemort would probably be after him. "Will I be safe here sir?"

The nod relieved Harry. Hogwarts was safe. He wondered if Sirius would be safe.

• Edited 2004.09.18 •


	6. Ender

Chapter 06

• Ender •

Peeves, the blasted poltergeist.

Harry swore that if he caught him, he would personally insure that Peeves would be properly dealt with. It seemed that Harry was Peeves's personal project. Every time Harry came around a corner, something would fall on him or fly at him. Harry being a little jumpy had reacted poorly the first few times, nearly cursing a student that was behind Peeves. What Sirius had told him about Peeves did not do him justice. Peeves, was an absolute pain.

Harry made it into the library without getting into another accident with a suit of armor as he had twice that day. Hermione looked up at him as he took his seat. She was happily reading a spell book from one of the classes.

In the past few days, very little work had actually been done so far. They were just prepared for the school and the next seven years. Harry hadn't even been to all his classes yet but he was enjoying what he had seen so far. Transfiguration was very interesting. At home, Harry had never done much transfiguration. Well, accept for becoming an animagus, which had been mostly just following Sirius's counsel closely.

Charms was fun too. Harry found it hysterical to watch the little teacher climb up onto the makeshift pedestal of books and manuscripts then call role. When he had come to Harry's name for the first time, he had simply forgotten how to speak. Harry had raised his hand then shrunk back into his seat until Professor Flitwick found his voice again

The hallways themselves were fun to run explore at night, Harry found several that Sirius had mentioned and their little quarks too. One had a ladder mounted to the wall that was invisible. If you knew where it was, you could climb up into the arches and hide there as people passed. No one ever looked up for someone in the ceilings unless you were looking for a ghost. Another had a mirror that lined the whole passage and if you knew the right words you could enter and walk down the inside of the mirror seeing out without being seen.

Most of the ghosts were kind. His first encounter had been with the Bloody Baron who, according to Sirius, was always in a bad mood. However, to Harry he didn't seem all that bad. He had never been in contact with a ghost at all and the other night when Nicolas had accidentally flown though him was chilling. Harry had literally felt his whole body temperature drop 15 degrees as Nick had flowed through him.

No matter how much Harry tried to picture some of the hallway and staircases he would have never been able to visualize them properly. Now that he was here, at Hogwarts, and had ridden on the staircases as they moved, climbed through the hallway arches (with Hermione clinging to him) and crept through the halls. He found it much better than he ever imagined and it had only been a few days.

Some things about the school were not so enjoyable though. Occasionally he would hear a stray whisper as he entered a room or had gone unnoticed to people in the room. In fact, it was happening now, just across from him. A small group of Hufflepuffs had entered the library and they were talking amongst themselves quietly, but loud enough for Harry to hear.

"They say he helped Sirius Black when..."

"Some say he is going to be the next Dark Lord. Even as a baby You-Know-Who didn't want to have to..."

"I heard that he isn't really even human, he's..."

"Did you see him change when Filch pulled him in? He can do spells already that 7th years can't even do."

"Someone said he apparated in the first day even though no one is supposed to..."

"He only has one friend, that know-it-all, Hermione Granger. She clings to him because no one else likes her. Did you know she answered seven questions in charms? No one else could even answer two the whole time."

At the last comment, Harry looked over at Hermione who had heard. Her face creased and he could tell the comment had hurt her. Harry didn't enjoy seeing her feeling bad.

Harry cleared his throat and made sure the Hufflepuffs noticed him. With a threatening stare, all of them quieted down. Having people so scared of you, that they would do almost anything, made Harry feel awful. He really didn't know if he should enjoy their fearfulness of him or if he should hate it. It made him some sort of infamous hero and bad guy all in one

After all, Harry had saved the world from Voldemort. He had also grown up with the "much feared" Sirius Black. Stories had been told to the children about Sirius. In some ways, Sirius was the boogieman. If you were bad or picked on you little brother or sister, older Wizards would warn you that he would come steal you away, take you into the night and the you would be gone forever. In other fantasies, Sirius was simply a Death Eater or an evil person, sometimes even Voldemort's highest in command while he was gone.

The Hufflepuffs were right and Harry knew it. Hermione was the only person that was his friend. Harry hoped that would change as people grew less fearful of him. Anyone who even dared approached him never had much to say. One boy had even tried to tell Harry about how evil Sirius really was. He had found he spoke to deaf ears. Harry would hear none of it.

Hermione was the only person that was with Harry for more than a few minutes, outside of class, a day. Harry looked up at her, she was no longer concentrating on the book, the remark that the Hufflepuffs said about her was still bothering her. Harry sat down next to her and told her not to listen to them. She smiled and pulled out a potions book reminding Harry that they had it later in the day.

Harry did know a few potions just some simple ones and what ones he had read about. Sirius never was very interested in them and so he only used them if absolutely necessary which wasn't often

The dungeons, that was where Harry planned to have some real fun. The Slytherin common room was down there, it was ripe for a few pranks. If only he had his father's invisibility cloak or his animagus form was of some other common animal. Well, he would figure it out soon enough.

Hermione stood and, with her hand latched on to Harry's, left the library. "We had better find the potions room early so we aren't late."

Harry just followed, the pathways didn't confuse him to much. Well, the moving staircases got on his nerves. He had always watched for that fake step or the trick door. It took him a few minutes to figure which door was to the transfiguration room, it was a portrait of a kitten that had to be stroked until it purred, only then would it allow the students entrance.

Somehow, the oddity of it all was the reason it was so curiously enjoyable. Where else would you find 142 staircases that moved? Half of them didn't even take you anywhere most of the time, you would end up going away from where you were headed. And the portraits, they were fascinating, so much to see. During the day, you would often see some of them chatting. On occasion, a rogue knight on a horse could be seen running through them after some dastardly dragon to save a damsel in distress. You could hear him coming from three hallways down, shouting all sorts of insults to nonexistent creatures.

What was really confusing was when the hallways just stopped, no explanation. There one day gone only a few minutes later. Harry wondered if they only opened to passages some of the time. One passage he had explored seemed to go on forever. A few hours later the same passage had stopped, after only a few steps, to reveal a solid brick wall.

Doors appeared and disappeared. Some were portraits or secret switches. Some weren't even doors at all but the walls playing tricks. Each doorway had its own special way of opening it, giving an insult or a compliment, giving a proper opinion of a question or maybe a simple password was all the was needed. Each common room had its own entrance, a portrait for Slytherin and Gryffindor, a knight for Hufflepuff and a bookshelf for Ravenclaw. The whole school was a trick all in itself. Well, "you get used to it" was what Sirius had told him.

Everything was so abnormal that it was normal, so to speak. To find a tiny man with huge glowing eyes and pointed ears was not unusual at all. (Though the house-elves did try to keep hidden away from the students. After all, what good was a visible house-elf?) Or, to see an owl swoop in from an upper window and drop a letter or paper to you was perfectly normal. Some of the trees on the ground even had a mind of their own. One would not let you approach it without giving you a good lashing, which usually ended up getting you sent to the infirmary.

Harry had even encountered a rogue pixie in the hallways. (Apparently, someone thought it a great joke.) Harry found himself literally shocked to silence when, curiously, he had interrupted the tiny creature as it pestered Filch's cat Mrs. Norris. The incident had put him in the infirmary for a few hours. Harry hadn't much enjoyed it, accept for the peace from the roving eyes and the loud whispering that he both heard and felt constantly.

Madam Pomfrey had seemed nice enough. She had given him some excellent chocolates and teased him about not running into pixies, which had lightened the mood.

Harry was reminded of the pixie as they walked down into the dungeons. It hadn't been far from that spot that he had run across her. Professor McGonagall, an older female teacher, who was also head of the Gryffindor house stopped them. "Harry, I need to speak with you about some of your possessions that you have brought to school."

Harry wondered what he had brought that had caused worry. She didn't seem like the sort of person that would have a problem with anything he had brought. Her attitude towards Harry was much different from everyone else. In class she had been moody, strict, and very clever. Her short speech in front of the class went something along the lines of. "Transfiguration is a very exact magic. While it can be fun it is also one of the more complex magics and is to be taken very seriously." At that point, McGonagall had jumped from her seat onto her desk morphing into a cat. She returned to her human self and sat back down having captured the attention of the whole class. "Transfiguration can also be fun. Because of the danger of not paying attention if you misbehave or I feel you are not working hard enough you will leave my class and will not return."

After class she was different, to both Harry and Hermione. She had seemed very gentle, almost motherly. She had stopped Harry. "I heard you have been trained to do some magic."

Harry wondered where she had heard that but a glance over to Hermione revealed where. "Yeah, well, SirI' and I needed to do some magic to get along. With me helping, it made many things much easier. I never learned much though." His eyes had darted over to Hermione wondered what else she had revealed. It wasn't difficult to get out of the conversation because McGonagall seemed very happy just because Harry was there, at the school. She had told him to be careful and bear in mind that the magic he did know could be dangerous if not used properly then let him disappear.

His eyes returned to her where the professor was still waiting for an answer about something he had brought to school. "Is there a problem with any of them?"

The professor grabbed his hand and walked him into her classroom. She pointed to his broom. "What is the reason for bringing this?"

Harry shrugged his shoulders. "Siri' gave it to me last year as a birthday present. I like to fly around when I am not feeling so good. It rather helps me relieve tension. What is wrong with it?" He looked up at McGonagall who was shaking her head.

"You knew everything that needed to be brought but didn't listen to the rules. First years aren't allowed to bring brooms."

If he couldn't fly... well, he could always go for a run, but that would mean no one would see him and they might get suspicious about him disappearing all the time. "I didn't know that. I just got a list of things that were required for first years and got them. No one told me that we couldn't bring things."

McGonagall sat down. "Well, you aren't allowed. I am afraid that neither is your pet Falcon. A pet owl is allowed, but not a falcon. Professor Dumbledore has spoken to me about this matter, and as for your pet, it has an exception. The broom though..."

Harry did not want to loose his broom for a whole year. "What if I promise to ask permission first before I use it?"

Her head shook. Something else, there had to be some sort of compromise. "What about if I prove a can ride it well enough? SirI' said I was as good as my father and I can do all sorts of things on it."

McGonagall shook her head again. "Your father played Quidditch for 6 years. I doubt you are already as good as your father."

"But, I am. Let me at least have a chance to show you or someone else. Please?"

Harry saw McGonagall's eyes give in, she would allow him a chance. "Alright. I will schedule some time with you in an evening soon, out at the pitch. If you show you are as good as your father I will allow you to keep your broom with special conditions which I will provide."

It was enough for now, at least Harry knew he was being given the chance to prove himself. Tomorrow evening. For now, they needed to find the potions classroom. "Professor we need to go, uh, Potions in a few minutes." He and Hermione were excused to go to class which they did straightaway.

Hermione figured out the way faster than Harry did which was a surprise. She had gotten lost more than a few times. The trick steps didn't seam very funny to her, she had stepped in them nearly ever time she ascended the stairs to go to the Gryffindor towers.

Harry knew they were late for the class when they first walked in. Today wasn't a good day to be late. Professor Snape hadn't had was going to be meeting Harry personally for the first time and neither wanted to know each other. The first mention of who the potions professor was Harry knew it was _him_.

Sirius had spoken of him often, always with a bit of malice and something else... It had always made Harry wonder. That was the reason Harry had been able to identify who Snape was immediately. The dark sallow look, greasy hair, the superior attitude and lastly the eyes, it was Snape. Sirius had never said much about his eyes but Harry noticed them as they walked into the classroom. Ashen amber in the dark light of the potions room. Creepy.

Yes, Snape and De'Maggé. Sirius seemed to enjoy pulling all sorts of pranks on these two almost exclusively. They were a team of Slytherins that had taken to the wrong side early on in the game. Sirius swore one time that Snape was a Death Eater even before leaving Hogwarts. De'Maggé had been killed just after school ended, an accident that was covering up, (according to Sirius) Death Eater activity.

And now... with the look he was given as he walked into class, finding himself under the gaze of the cold yellow eyes of Snape. Both knew that each other knew. Harry and the Professor would not be getting along well at all. It was like a contention even before they had said a word. Harry knew he didn't like Snape. Snape knew Harry would be just as incorrigible as his father.

"Mr. Potter, so good of you to join us. I see that you believe because you are a celebrity that you may show up late to my class. I think your house should be punished harshly for you timing. 20 Points will be deducted from your house score." His evil smirk made Harry shiver.

Harry knew that the more he argued the deeper he would work himself in. He had met people like Snape before, they enjoyed proving themselves superior in everyway and would dissolve any one's confidence for their own gain. "Sorry sir, Professor Snape sir. It won't happen again."

Snape sneered. "See that it doesn't."

Harry pulled Hermione to an empty table and noticed the several of the students were sneaking glances at him. Draco Malfoy was sitting in the very front of the class watching Snape intently.

Snape continued with whatever they had interrupted. "As I was saying, before we were rudely interrupted, you will not be using your wand here. Here you will learn potions, a different sort of magic. I doubt a single student here will be able to understand the true beauty of a cauldron simmering to potency, its unnatural fumes flittering through the air, the delicate potions that can slowly fill creep through your veins, beguile another's mind and fascinate the senses... Here, in this class, I can teach you to take fate into your own hands. I can teach you to how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death. Here we could bottle the very essence of life-- I hope that you can live up to the meager expectations that are rarely reached by my first year students."

Hermione huffed. She wanted to reach his expectations and more, Harry already knew that, it was her nature. Several of the students looked a little bewildered. Snape smiled and turned away from the students. "Mr. Potter," Snape shattered the silence his speech had brought, 'tell me, where would I look to find a bezoar?"

Harry recalled reading something about it, it was some sort of stone but he couldn't remember where from. "Uh... I uh...."

Hermione whispered something in his ear and he leaned closer. "... A goat's stomach, it helps cure poisoning."

"It's found in a goat's stomach... It, uh, helps cure poisoning?" Harry hoped Hermione had been right.

Snape turned and sneered. "I asked you where to get it, not what it does. Two points from Gryffindor for not answering the question properly. Being that you seem so full of yourself, tell me, what sort of potion might you get from combining monkshood, dragons blood and essence of saphron?"

Harry didn't have a clue, dragon's blood was rare to say the least, and only twelve potions even used it. He remembered a couple vaguely saying the first that came to his head. "Espalier Tonic?"

Snape looked right at him. "Is that a question or an answer Mr. Potter?"

Harry looked right into Snape's eyes. "It depends on if it's correct." Harry answered a bit too defiantly. Several people gasped but then, realizing they were making noise quieted again.

A cruel smile slowly spread across Snape's face. "Well, it seams that we have an attitude, you will be the subject for your first potion today Mr. Potter." His eyes lifted to the glance around at the rest of the class. "I see that that few students realize that this information needs to be copied down. Well, what are you waiting for, get those quills moving."

"Oh, and Mr. Potter your impudence just took away another 5 house points."

The class itself wasn't all that bad at first. They were making a potion to cure boils, Harry wasn't sure what how the potion would work on him if he didn't have any boils to start with. Each person was paired up and they started on the potion. Snape slipped up behind students and criticized them about the smallest things. Malfoy seemed to be evading any criticism at all. Harry watched his potion carefully not wanting to bring any more of Snape's temper upon himself.

As Harry worked he spotted something out of the corner of his eye, turning he saw Ron giving him a dirty look. Harry tried to ignore him until he saw a beetle come flying at him. Harry flicked his wand without thinking and sent the beetle flying back towards Ron. Harry looked back down for a moment to suddenly hear a loud explosion and started chocking on a blue, sulfuric smelling smoke. Turning he saw that just in front of Ron was Zabini Blaise's cauldron, or had been, now it was a more of a deformed clay pot still in the process of being sculpted. A horrible green liquid had coated everyone around her and they were starting to cry out in pain.

Snape loomed over Zabini and soon the mess was gone. "Foolish child, what happened?"

Zabini looked back at Ron, then towards Harry trying to decide what to say. "I... I... Ron threw a beetle and it landed in my cauldron."

Snape's eyes traveled above Zabini's head to Ron who was now looking very squeamish. Technically it was the truth, Ron had thrown the beetle and as a result it had landed in Zabini's cauldron. He now was in the hot seat and had nothing at all to say. Snape smirked as Ron cried out in pain, his whole face growing red and starting to bubble. "Well, painful isn't it? That should teach you to throw things in the classroom."

Zabini started to whimper as her face also started to grow. Her partner, Neville was in obvious pain but didn't say anything at all. Snape looked at her then over at Harry. "Mr. Potter why don't you escort these three children to the hospital wing? Ms. Granger help him out."

Harry looked at Snape surprised at him, why was he sending Harry and Hermione? Harry held on to Zabini helping her walk as they headed to the infirmary. "Why didn't you tell Snape what really happened?" Harry questioned her after a long moment of silence.

Ron was just ahead refusing any help from Hermione and Neville was just beside Harry walking slowly, but by himself. Lavender whispered back into Harry's ear. "Because, because you don't seem to be mean and Ron has been horrible to me already. No one seems to like me right now accept for Neville and he is only nice because no one else likes me. I just wanted to show you I would like to be friends."

Harry felt encouraged that someone else was seeing him as a normal person. "Than you aren't afraid of me?"

Zabini leaned against him and winced in pain. "Well... I, I've heard stories and it... they sort of scared me at first, but you seem so different. I don't think you could do all those things they said about you. I did sort of wonder if any of it was true."

Harry noticed Neville had slowed even more. "Hermione, help Neville, and don't let him say no."

Hermione turned and grabbed Neville who protested. "No, I'm fine. I can make it there on my own. Really, it's only just pain, it will go away." His protests however where in vain, Hermione just pulled him tight and helped him walk better. He looked relieved that he didn't have to but his weight on the side Hermione but didn't say anything.

Ron could be heard muttering to himself in front of them and Harry didn't know what to think of him anymore. He was such a pain but everything about him just made Harry's insides churn, like something wasn't right. Harry decided to give him a break the next time they fought, it just didn't seem right that he get away with something like that/

Entering the Infirmary Madam Pomfrey scurried over to them and laid out Ron Zabini and Neville onto beds. She looked at Harry. "What happened?"

Harry shrugged his shoulders. "Potions, something got mixed into one of them and made it sort of burst over a few people."

A glance from Ron, one of curiosity, drew Harry's attention for a second. Madam Pomfrey pulled out a wand and started muttering healing spells and Harry refocused his attention. He had always had a sort of knack for picking up spells performed around him watch and do, it was that simple. Hermione also watched in interest.

It took a few minutes and three spells to correct the swelling and burning. Neville stood and flexed his leg a little then looked up at Hermione smiling. "Thank you ever so much for your help Hermione."

Hermione smiled and nodded acknowledgment. She didn't seem to know what to say. Harry spoke up, 'that means your welcome in Hermione language."

Harry noticed Ron crack a faint smile then conceal it almost immediately. Together the 5 began to head back towards class. Harry noticed Ron seemed a little reluctant to stay with the group for some reason. Finally he found some courage and spoke up. "Guys... Why do we have to go back immediately? I mean, I may not enjoy everyone's company here but I prefer it to Snape's."

Harry and the rest of the group slowed and thought about it for a second. Hermione immediately started to lodge a protest but Harry clamped his hand over her mouth. Neville smiled as he did and Harry looked around. "We don't see anything wrong with that."

Hermione struggled a little and everyone accept Ron laughed. Harry let go and she didn't say anything just glared at him for a minute. Neville spoke up. "So what do we do if we aren't going back to class, we surely can't just wander the halls. Filch would catch us immediately. How much longer before class is up anyway?"

Hermione looked down at her watch. "30 minutes."

Harry smiled. "I have an idea. Does anyone want to get Peeves for all the pranks he has been playing on us?"

Ron smirked. "And how are you going to do that. We are first years; we don't know how to stop Peeves."

Harry grinned. "Well you may not know but I do and I have wanted to get back at Peeves since he turned me in for skiving class."

Ron didn't answer for a few moments and Harry chided him a little. "It was your idea not to go back. Besides are you frightened of getting caught?"

Ron clenched his jaw. "NO I am not afraid. I just don't think it's the smartest thing to do, trying to play a prank on Peeves."

Harry grinned back at him. "Well it could be fun though right? Never anything wrong with throwing in a little fun is there?"

Neville shook his head and so did Zabini. Hermione seemed to want to agree with Ron but didn't want to say so out loud. Ron finally relented. "Ok, so what do you plan on doing?"

Harry smiled, he had the perfect spell, it would solidify Peeves so that he couldn't just fly through things. Pulling pranks would mean he could get caught and barred away. Filch would be the first person they told about it. The spell would last for nearly a whole week. Hopefully Peeves would learn to be careful about who he bothered afterwards.

"There is this spell I know, it will make it so he is solid like you and I. He won't be able to go through walls."

Neville grinned wide. "How do we get a hold of him?"

Harry shrugged his shoulders. "That was why I hadn't tried it. We need to get him to an area where I am waiting. I have only performed the spell successfully once and I had to do a lot of concentrating before I did it. Someone is going to have to lure him to me. I know the perfect spot though."

Everyone looked back and forth for a few minutes until Ron spoke up again. Slowly and a little unsteady. "I'll do it. I know how to bring him. Where is it that I am going to have to bring him?"

Harry led them to the hallway that they could climb into the rafters and told Ron that it was this place. Ron nodded and, giving Harry a strange look he disappeared. Neville didn't take but a moment to climb into the ceiling after Harry explained about the ladder. Zabini followed right behind him. Hermione only took a moment of prodding and she also climbed up. She had been up before and didn't feel out-of place. Harry had in fact found she climbed very well for claiming never to have done it before.

Harry took up his position and waited. He hoped Ron wouldn't take long, they had more classes and even though playing a prank on Peeves was going to be fun he didn't want to be late to the other classes. Harry heard a yell and a cackling of Peeves voice. Ron came shooting down the hall looking both ways. His face suddenly grew fearful.

All the others had disappeared. Ron was wondering if they had gone while he was away. He turned and fled as fast as he could further down the hall. Harry heard Peeves before he saw him and he readied himself taking a deep breath and concentrating. "_Consolido vivificus._" He shouted with all his strength as Peeves passed.

Peeves stopped, confused and looked around. Harry wondered if the spell had worked but could see nothing different in Peeves's appearance. Ron had heard Harry from behind, but seeing Peeves confused he took the chance to scamper away. Peeves didn't even notice him going he seemed to be looking for Harry still. When no one else appeared Peeves chuckled sinisterly to himself and headed down the hall towards where Ron had disappeared.

"Did it work Harry?" Neville was watching Peeves carefully until he disappeared. There didn't seem to be any difference.

Harry shrugged his shoulders and wondered the same thing. Suddenly down the hall came Peeves voice, considerably louder than usual. It was a string of very inappropriate words that echoed the halls. Harry started to climb down the ladder as he heard the voice suddenly grow closer. Peeves came around the corner to find Harry sprawled out on the ground having jumped from the ladder to protect the others that were in the ceiling.

Peeves stopped dead and looked at Harry. "Ickle Potter. Did you bloody do this to poor Peeves?"

Harry snorted. Poor Peeves? Right, as though he was going to believe that. "I told you to leave me be Peeves – or else. Now you"ll learn that I mean it when I say 'or else'. Now, you had better hurry along and figure out what you can and can't do. I am planning on telling Filch the next time I see him."

Filch spat out another string of horrible words and sped down the hallway away from Harry. A thump behind Harry meant the others were climbing down. Harry turned to face a Neville grinning ear-to-ear. "That was brilliant! A can't believe you actually pulled it off."

Hermione stepped off the ladder just behind him followed by Zabini. Hermione looked around. "Harry, let's get to class. I don't want to be late for Defense Against Dark Arts, it's our only class we haven't been to yet and it sounds by far the most interesting. Besides I don't want to be around here if Peeves comes back for you."

The others agreed and they all headed down to the DADA classroom. Outside the door Ron sat with his face buried in his hands. He looked up at Harry and seemed angry. Carefully he pulled himself up. "You could have told me you would be hiding. I thought you had just pulled a joke on me until I heard you."

Harry felt sorry for what he had done but then again, Ron had been a real prat to him just because of Virginia. Right now he seemed to want something from Harry, an apology of some sort. Harry knew he should give it too, but he didn't want to, no matter how childish it made him feel he had to remember that this Ron wouldn't accept him because of Virginia. He had to accept him for that first before they could become friends.

Ron stared at him until he realized an apology was not coming and looked away down towards the ground. Harry wanted to say it, wanted to apologize he just couldn't. Hermione gave him a look that told him he should have done something more but Harry ignored it. There was silence for a few minutes until the doorway into the classroom creaked open allowing them admittance.

Harry found a seat to the far side of the classroom near the front but not in the front row. Hermione reluctantly sat next to him and behind him sat Zabini and Neville. Ron sat on the other side of the classroom and kept his eyes straightforward. Slowly students filtered in finding seats. The once around Harry seemed to be the last to be filled. Finally, after all the students had entered a door in the front of the classroom opened.

An older man stood in the doorway his silhouette overshadowing several of the students. All the students were utterly quiet waiting for him to speak. Harry stared at him for a long time there was something about him that was familiar. His robes were well worn but fit him well. His body was well built even for a young man, but because of his age it was amazing. The look in his eyes gave Harry a shudder. He had seen many things in his life, much that many others hadn't.

"Hello class. I am Professor Andrew Wiggin. Here I do not want to be called professor unless you think I deserve it. I want everyone here to call me Ender, that was my code name in the Aurors and I well respond better to it than to Professor. I will be teaching you Defense Against Dark Arts this year and hopefully the next. After that I plan on retiring. Here you will learn to defend yourself against the things that crawl in the shadows. I have seen things that would make your skin crawl for weeks on end I have done things that would do the same. Don't mistake this class for any of the others. I wont coddle you here, here you are here to learn everything I can teach you. I provide a weekly extra hour of class for those that want to participate. On occasion I have had students form there own groups."

Harry smiled. This man was straightforward but not angry. He told the students if they wanted to they could it was that simple. "For the first two weeks we will be breaking up into groups I want to know what you all can and can't do. I want to know how fast you learn and what the easiest ways that you can are. The class will be split into groups and I want each of you to take a test another one of your group will go through it and give me the information. I don't want you to hold back on account of you think you might be too powerful. I know that at least one first year has some secrets, solidifying a ghost or ghoul isn't a simple spell."

His eyes traveled across the classroom not stopping on anyone. Harry was glad he didn't single him out and guessed he might not know exactly who it was that performed the spell. The professor's arm twisted and his wand was in his hand. Some papers that were on his desk sorted themselves and flew out to students. "Now, groups of four. Fill out the forms and then wait until another person in your group is done, exchange with them and follow the instructions on the third piece of parchment."

His little group was obvious, he, Hermione, Zabini and Neville.

Harry pulled out a quill and looked at the first piece of parchment.

_What is the extent of your knowledge of the Dark Arts?_

Harry heaved a sigh, if the questions were all like this he was going to have a time filling them out. He reached down and started writing quickly. His paper filled and he used the reverse side of the parchment to answer some of the questions. History and parents were vague, he didn't want to give away their secrets about how he and Sirius had kept hidden from the world. He knew his parents but only what Sirius remembered there was gaps here and there.

Zabini and Hermione had finished first and Neville was waiting patiently as Harry finished. They exchanged papers and Harry placed the third parchment next to Neville's reading it. They scored the questions based on the answer, sometimes by how many spells mentioned or by interest, sometimes it was by how they responded. Neville got some interesting information about his parents. Both had been Aurors and after the accident with Harry and Sirius escaping them both had retired. His mother worked at home and his father wrote some books about Voldemort's downfall and reign.

Harry supposed that the book sold well, Neville didn't seem a bit more well off than most of the other students. He also had a natural charm that made everyone smile. He also knew some spells here and there, his father had taught him. Harry finished grading the test and put the scores at the top then sat it in the pile Neville took several more minutes before he finished Harry's. Harry, being curious watched as his parchment was sat atop the others. His score was nearly double what Neville's had been he shivered. Hermione volunteered to take up the papers but Ender touched her shoulder from behind and she sat back down. He picked up the stack of papers and read through each for a few minutes and smiled.

"Class, get the papers to my desk. For the rest of the class I want you to chat between yourselves, find out how you learn. These groups will be the groups you are in for a while."

Several people shuffled the papers and sat them on the desk in the front. Neville looked between the three and started the conversation up. "I always found that I had to be pushed to my limits before I learned anything, but once I learned it I knew it. For example..." He spoke for a few more minutes on exactly how he learned then Zabini took her turn. She learned by interaction, to do the spell watch and do. Hermione read, that had been obvious to Harry. She loved reading.

When it came his turn he didn't know what to say. "I well... I just know things I can watch it or read it or listen or do. I don't think I have to do it any particular way it's easy, sometimes too easy."

Neville looked a little shocked. "How can magic be too easy?"

Looking around the room Harry spotted a rock. "Like this." He pointed his wand. _"Abscondonus."_

The rock, at once was gone. That had been one of the only tricks that took some time for Harry to learn. A disappearing spell, it only worked for inanimate objects and he didn't know one to make himself disappear – yet.

Neville looked a bit shaken up. "But how can that be bad?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Do you know any other 1st year that can do that. Or for that matter, do you know any student attending this school that can do that? When I was taught it I just did it, it didn't take weeks of practice only a couple hours to get it right every time. What happens if I learn a curse and don't know what it can do, how powerful it can be? I could hurt someone. I learned to apparate when I was seven for Merlin's sake and it nearly got us caught six times. I didn't know why or that it was even doing it until the last time. I don't enjoy getting this stuff so easy. I don't think I am ready for it."

Harry realized he had just told him that he could apparate. It wasn't something he wanted as public knowledge, he hadn't wanted anyone to know it. He closed his eyes, he had to be more careful, being an animagus could get him thrown into Azkaban if he wasn't careful.

"I'm sorry. It's just hard sometimes. Please don't tell anyone."

Neville agreed not to say anything and so did Zabini. Hermione didn't say anything until Harry stared her directly in the eyes. She mumbled that she would keep quiet after Harry prodded her about it. The class ended only a few minutes later and Ender excused the students.

As Harry walked out he was pulled to the side.

"Harry, I understand you have been through a lot in the past few years. You really could be good at this if you tried. I assume you know you got the highest score in the class. Actually your whole group was within the top ten. I want you to know that if you want we can do training, just you and I for anything, just ask. Now, would you kindly bring my rock back to proper visibility?"

Harry looked back at the desk, he had forgotten to reveal the rock again. _"Fateor."_

The air shimmered as the rock slowly became visible, slowly turning from air to rock. Ender nodded his head. "Good, now, run along."

• Edited 2004.09.18 •


	7. Jump

Chapter 07

• Jump •

Was it worth it? Harry looked around at his accomplices as they scrubbed the floors. Yeah, it was worth it.

Sirius had given him the details of pranks what to do and what not to do, what could get you caught and what you could get away with. He had forgotten to mention that ditching class and pulling a prank at the same time didn't go well together.

Luckily it hadn't been Snape who had given it. After DADA earlier Professor McGonagall had told Harry that she wanted to talk to him in her classroom after dinner. When he had walked in and noticed Hermione, Ron, Neville and Zabini all sitting down near the front of class the meeting's topic was quite apparent.

•

"Mr. Potter," Professor McGonagall sounded like Snape for a moment, "I have difficulty deciding what punishment should be inflicted. It hasn't even been a week yet, I cannot believe that you are already up to things. The Weasley twins waited until the first month was over."

Harry tried to suppress a smile. It didn't work very well.

"Well, this is nothing to smile about. Two major violations of the rules. Detention, the whole lot of you."

That caught his attention, he was expecting a scolding. He should have been able to get away with his first prank... Sirius wouldn't be happy when he heard about this. He would find the prank to be pretty original though. The Marauders had never pulled a prank on Peeves. "Two violations ma'am, I mean professor, what exactly did I do to violate the rules?"

Harry realized that he shouldn't have asked that, he just had a hard time figuring out how the professor had figured out he had actually broken the rules. Peeves was the only person that knew, well and Ender somehow, but Harry didn't think either would be telling anyone. Ender didn't seem the type and Peeves... well Harry couldn't see Peeves telling a teacher that someone had pulled a prank on him, he wouldn't ever be able to live... no... go on with that little bit of information always bothering him.

McGonagall snapped her wand against her hand. "Harry... you know what you did. When you didn't return to Snape's classroom he suspected you might have gone elsewhere. Really though... I cannot believe you five would let loose all of Professor Forni's Doxy's my whole class and several nearby classrooms were infested with them and Madam Pomfrey found it difficult to treat them."

Doxy's? he hadn't even known Professor Forni had them, it would have been fun... "I... we didn't do that."

Professor McGonagall shook her head. "I have it on good authority that you did. There was a group of Slytherins that witnessed the whole event. Peeves has also come to me separately, he felt that that prank was malapropos."

Zabini looked confused. "Malapropos Professor?"

Neville smiled. "Done in an inappropriate or inopportune way. Originally from the French words _mal à propos_."

Harry happened to see Hermione flash Neville a look that didn't at all seem like Hermione. She was a little angry, maybe because she didn't know it.

He turned back to McGonagall. "But Professor, we didn't do that..." Harry thought about the consequences of telling her what they really did. Magic in the halls... that was far worse than releasing Doxy's. "We didn't go back to class but we didn't release Doxy's either."

McGonagall wouldn't be satisfied. "Sorry Harry. Unless you have some proof you didn't do it I am going to have to rely on the information that I was provided with."

Harry wanted to protest again but was cut off. "Deny it again without proof and I will also make sure that you cannot be with the rest of the classes while we do some transfiguration demonstrations on the ground next week. You will be in class writing essay's on the history of the animagus."

•

So now they were all scrubbing the great hall down to sparkle. This was the work of house-elves, but it wasn't as bad as something Snape would have cooked up.

No one was talking, they had been warned no magic and no one had used it they just scrubbed and scrubbed quietly. Harry was overwhelmingly bored. "Neville, earlier... how did you know what that meant?"

Neville looked up for a moment, surprised. "Well, father believes that one must be educated to succeed. He made me read dictionaries when I was younger to increase my vocabulary. I had all sorts of tutors and such to become a proper young man, it was just part of the education."

Well... to become a proper young man... that sounded more like torture than anything else. "What else did you have to do?"

Neville stopped completely and looked at Harry. "A proper man is first a gentleman. Open the door for woman, defend her honour if needed... Things like that. Next, he must be well studied and well read. He must be able to carry on interesting conversation with anyone."

Harry almost started laughing, it seemed so funny, the 'proper' way of doing things. He could see opening the door for a woman or defending her if needed, being 'well read' wasn't at all necessary and why would you need to carry on interesting conversation with someone, most people didn't know what an interesting conversation was. Neville still had more to say and Harry let him continue.

"A proper man must be able to endure any pains live brings his way and not allow for other's to help even if offered. He must only call for help in the direst of circumstances. If allowing himself to participate in a fight he must win or not fight. Loss is unacceptable."

Those rules were a little excessive. "That's why you didn't want Hermione's help earlier?"

Neville looked down. "It's hard... When father isn't around I try not to follow them but there is punishment if he finds out. I've gotten so used to them sometimes it's hard to allow them to be broken even if father isn't around."

Harry watched him, there was a great deal of emotional pain that was very apparent on his face. "What about your mum?"

Neville smiled lightly. "Mother thinks father can be harsh at times, but says it is for my betterment."

Harry started to scrub the floors again, they might as well keep going while they talked they had to get the floors done before the detention was over. "Why does he do that Neville, why does he make you conform like that?"

"He has his reasons. I've learned a lot from it... but sometimes... sometimes I wish they weren't there. I always wondered what it would be like if I didn't have a father who forced me to be proper."

Harry wondered if his father would have been like that, he had never known him accept through Sirius. No, his father wouldn't, his father would have been like Sirius- that was the only way he could picture his father. "You know Neville, you can be whatever you want to be here. Your father isn't around to force you to be any certain way."

Neville nodded. "I know, but my father is so forceful sometimes. I wish he would have stayed an Auror, it would have kept him away more than he is now and we wouldn't have the money for servants. You know, it's partially your fault he quit."

Harry stopped again and looked at Neville. "My fault? I was barely two when he quit, how was it my fault?"

Neville looked around, Ron was in the far corner working, but slowly. Hermione and Zabini were talking between themselves, not paying any attention to Neville or Harry. "When Sirius took you there was a big search. A lot of things went around about you and Sirius, how he might be innocent because you were still alive. Father was in charge of pursuing you and spent a year, night and day tracking Sirius. He had been in charge of tracking down Death Eaters but Zabini's father replaced him. He was killed just after he got the position. Well, father couldn't find you but he wrote a book about what had happened in his point of view, about Sirius and how evil and sly he had to be, the reasons he kidnapped you... It was very good and he made a great deal of money on it so he got out of the Auror's, mother quit also."

Well, no wonder everyone thought Sirius so evil, books and newspapers could cause that. "You don't believe it for a second Neville. It wasn't Sirius, it was someone else. I am going to prove that this year and make sure Sirius is free to come back."

"I believe you Harry. If Sirius had been so bad I think you would have been different. You're a Gryffindor not a Slytherin."

Neville and Harry talked until they had finished the floors. Hermione and Zabini joined in the conversation with them when they got near the center, Harry nor Neville spoke about either of the first two topics but they did have some ideas on how to get the Slytherins back for lying about what they saw. Harry didn't know who had been in the group but he was pretty sure he knew who at least one of them was.

"Malfoy'll get what's coming to him."

Ron's grunt was the only sound he made, the rest of the group agreed out loud. Harry thought about Ron, the grunt at least showed he was interested in helping them out or wanted revenge on his own.

•

"It's time to get into the more difficult class, we have been working on this charm for two weeks. Now we are going to try it a different way." Professor Flitwick had crawled up onto his podium instead of hiding behind it. "To levitate an object isn't difficult at all but I am going to show you what could be done if you work hard enough. _Volatilis._"

Harry smiled, he remember using that spell several years before when Sirius had asked what he could do magically, right before apparating. Professor Flitwick lifted into the air and was moving slowly, but in control, around the room in the air. The spell wasn't interesting at all and slowly his eyes wandered to the window. Far below, out towards the pitch there was a group of students listening to Madam Hooch about their broomsticks. He wondered if he would be able to use his this year at all, he did know how to fly well but he had heard others boast as much too.

Harry turned back to the classroom, watching the students one by one, trying to learn things about everyone of them. A Slytherin, with a smile that said he was about to do something stupid, swished and flicked his wand towards Flitwick. It was a normal levitation curse but wasn't designed to be used on a person, especially not one that was already levitating.

"Professor, be careful." Hermione called from next to Harry when he lost control for a moment in the air.

Harry watched carefully, the spell shouldn't have just reacted like that, it should have been much, much worse. Flitwick trembled again and started loosing control. The spell was working.

Without any other warning Flitwick completely lost control and was propelled towards the nearest open area-- outside. Harry saw him moving towards him and barely had enough time to get out of the way as Flitwick barreled through the window outside. Catching Harry with his hand and loosing his wand in the process.

Looking around Harry struggled to figure out what to do. He had to help the Professor, from this height he could easily die. Why didn't he know a good cushioning charm? A flying charm would help, it would probably make matters worse, but what else was there? Harry stood again and stepped to the window, pressing the others out of the way, well everything was pretty bad right now, it wouldn't matter how much worse it could be, there was always the possibility of Harry being able to stop his fall.

It came to him as Flitwick started into his decent. Harry looked around and then, gripping both his and the Professors wands tightly propelled himself out the window after the Professor. This had better work...

"_Accio!_"

Harry tried with all his might to bring one of the school brooms to him but by the time it did move it wasn't at all quick enough. The brooms were far too far away and Harry was much to close to the ground. Harry leaned forward a little deciding that he had to do something else, his body dove faster. Maybe if Flitwick had his wand he could stop both of them.

It took what seemed like hours to move inches, Flitwick came closer but the ground did to. Harry felt like he had done the stupidest thing in his life until he felt himself slow but Flitwick come much closer. Harry shoved the wand as hard as he could into Flitwick's side hoping that he would feel it.

He did. The professor rolled in mid air and saw Harry and his wand and made a lurching grab for the wand. It was a clumsy grab but he managed to get a hold of the wand and that was all that mattered. Harry couldn't hear what was said but Flitwick slowed this time, Harry passed right by him. The ground was terribly close and Harry closed his eyes, worried what might happen.

Something hard struck his hand and he opened his eyes again, the broom was right in front of him. He didn't have time to grip it but fell right onto it, forcing it down and hurting himself in the process. He gripped the front of the broom and pulled with all his might, the ground was too close he couldn't help the professor now. He had done what he could and Flitwick had his wand, it was up to him to save himself.

Harry pulled again, harder than ever before. The broom moved underneath him and then started to flatten out, Harry felt himself moving upward for a moment then nothing. He was falling again, the broom had snapped under the tremendous pressure of Harry pulling out of the fall.

He landed with a soft thud and closed his eyes, there was no pain, he hadn't broken anything. Harry laughed, that had sure been a rush... a once in a lifetime rush, he wasn't about to jump out of that window again without a broom in hand.

Several voices became louder and Harry opened his when a loud clapping erupted, he found a concerned McGonagall looking down at him. "Are you alright Harry?"

Somewhere in the crowd he could here Professor Flitwick say something about being alright. "Yeah, I think so. I don't think anything's broken."

"Good. Harry, if you ever, I mean ever pull something like that I will personally see to it that you receive a weeks detention. Did you ever bother looking down to see if someone else might be able to help him?"

No, he hadn't. But he hadn't seen them as he fell, maybe he wasn't looking hard enough. Harry rolled onto his side and tried to stand up but he wasn't able to, his head spun and he decided to rest for a few minutes before he tried that again. Professor Flitwick marched over to Harry, he smiled. "That was the most daring thing I have ever seen a student do. I say, if you hadn't done that... well I don't want to think about what might've happened." Well, at least someone thanked him.

One of the students stepped near Harry and picked up the broken broom. Harry recognized him from somewhere. He had seen him in Diagon Alley probably. He examined the broom and then looked at Harry. "I don't believe I've ever seen someone pull out of a dive like that on a Cleansweep, I wouldn't of even thought it possible until I saw it. I remember you, Diagon Alley, Quidditch supply store. No... that one had different hair and eyes but he looked like you... where have I seen you before?"

Yeah, that was it, his name was Oliver Wood, the captain for the Quidditch team. "Yeah, that's were you saw me, I had changed my appearance so no one would recognize me."

"But why would you need to do..."

One of Woods classmates whispered something in his ear and he stared at Harry. "You're Harry Potter?"

Harry nodded his head, apparently he hadn't been at the sorting ceremony. "Yeah, I uh... was trying to attract less attention while I was there."

Wood nodded and looked dazed, unsure what to say. Finally he moved over to McGonagall and whispered something in her ear. She looked down at Harry and then back to Wood. "Absolutely not. I cannot allow for that, there are too many other things..."

Wood whispered in her ear again and she closed her eyes and huffed. "Wood! You are pushing it. We will discuss this later, for right now we need to get Harry to Madam Pomfrey to check him over, make sure he's alright."

Flitwick picked up his wand. "I'll take care of it, he seems to be doing fine for now. I'm sure my class can continue for another few minutes with out me."

The class however was more interested in seeing their Professor flattened by the ground and were coming out the front door of the castle sprinting, Malfoy at the head of the pack. "I saw him do it Professor, Potter did it." He said, breathless as he reached the area they were laying at.

What? Harry almost jumped up to strangle him. Malfoy knew it wasn't him. "No, I didn't I saw Fletcher do it, he used Wingardium Leviosa."

Malfoy smiled at Harry. "Potter even knows what was used, he's a trouble maker. You know that Professor." He drawled.

Harry pushed himself to his knees and closed his eyes, letting himself get adjusted to moving again. "Malfoy, you know what happened and it wasn't me, it was Fletcher."

"Prove it. No one else saw him do anything and three people saw you do it."

Harry growled, he couldn't think of anything. A truth potion perhaps?

Flitwick looked at Harry and then back to Malfoy. Finally he walked over to Fletcher and yanked his wand away. He leaned over it and whispered something "_Prior..._" Harry didn't know what was going on and Flitwick turned back to Fletcher. "Detention Fletcher, I don't want to hear you deny anything. Malfoy... detention, you've been dishonest. Both of you report to me after class to receive information about your detentions."

McGonagall cleared her throat. "Class, follow me. Let's continue on with our activity."

The class followed her grudgingly, the wanted to find out more about what was happening. Neville offered Harry a hand and helped him stand then Flitwick told him to take Harry to the hospital and then, if everything was alright, come back to class. Harry walked slowly to the hospital and Neville was silent for most of the way, as they were walking the last corridor Neville finally spoke.

"Why?" was all he asked.

"I don't know Neville, to tell you the truth it's hard to say. I wasn't going to let him just die, it isn't an option if it can be avoided. Sirius taught me that, always take the path less chosen, save someone even if it means loosing yourself in the process. I looked at him falling and I couldn't let it happen, there was a chance I could stop him and so I tried." Harry said, remembering looking out the window.

"There were hundreds of other ways, why take the dive?" Neville questioned seriously.

Harry stopped and looked up at him. "It was the way that had the best chance of succeeding in the time I had. Any other would have taken time to think through and I didn't have time to think."

"Well, that much was obvious." Neville smiled. "You know, I was still wondering, even after our conversation last week about Sirius. I'm not anymore, not after that. If you need any help I'll gladly provide anything I can."

Harry grinned widely. "Well right now I have a friend working on getting some evidence while she is at home. Her father works for the ministry. But right now I could use help getting the rest of the way to the Infirmary. My head is still spinning."

Neville grabbed a hold of him again and they continued on down. "You know, you're lucky you weren't killed."

"I've fought the odds all my life, swan diving out of a window isn't such a big deal."

Both laughed at the comment. Harry felt much better about doing one of the stupidest things he had ever done in his life. He had survived and that was what mattered. He always survived, always found a way, Sirius was right – he could do anything.

•

Ron was sitting on the stairs of the common room, Harry hadn't seen him at all since the dive out the window. Everyone didn't know what to think of him anymore. He had been a person to be feared, now after he had jumped out of a window 25 Meters in the air just to save a teacher... Maybe he wasn't so bad.

"You know, I still don't like you." Ron looked up at Harry as he approached to go up to the dorms.

Harry stopped and looked at Ron. "The feeling's mutual."

"Good. I wanted to say I was sorry about being angry about Ginny. She's the only girl in the family and we have some difficulties with her and guys. I wanted to say I don't mind you being friends with Ginny."

Harry coughed. Around him he noticed several people staring from different areas of the common room. "Well, uhm... thanks I think. Ok, I want to apologize about the trick with Peeves, I didn't mean to make you think we had left you."

Ron smiled and stood. "It was fun to see him caged wasn't it?"

Harry chuckled. Filch had gotten Peeves into a trap and held him there for 3 days until the solidity wore off enough. It had hung in the middle of the hall just outside the great hall so everyone could see it. Peeves wasn't too happy about it but the rest of the school found it funny and had to laugh nearly every time they walked by. Peeves was loose again but Harry hadn't seen him at all, he wondered if Peeves was afraid of him now or if he was plotting against him.

"Yeah, it was. I think Filch might let me off once in a while because we did that. He actually smiled at me when I told him what had happened, didn't mention a single thing about me doing magic in the halls at all." Filch had smiled, a slim, eerie smile that made Harry think of those you saw at funerals, the one of the person that had passed on.

Harry walked up to the dorm, passing Ron. Maybe Ron wasn't so bad after all, he accepted the friendship between and Ginny. Now they could become friends. Neville was sitting in the dorms when Harry entered.

"I think you've become the most talked about person in this school – ever." Neville seemed to be happy about something now. "People will be talking about that for years and years to come."

"Yeah... It wasn't exactly something I did for popularity."

Neville laughed. "If you would have done it for that I don't think I would be here now."

"What do you mean?" Harry wondered out loud.

Neville leaned forward and picked up a book that was sitting on his bed. "This was my fathers, it's a journal just about the Dark Lord and Sirius Black. He wanted me to read it, to know everything he did. I never wanted to, I don't want to be my father. It has information that might be helpful, look through it, find something that might help. I'm giving it to you as a permanent loan- my father gave it to me and hasn't ever wanted to see it again. I don't think he wants to know the things he's seen and done anymore, he got away and is frightened of going back."

Harry took the books and opened it, each page was covered in delicately scrawled writing. It continued through every page until the very end. This would be helpful, maybe there would be some sort of evidence to prove Sirius's innocence, or at least lead them in the right direction to take.

"This is... wow. You're sure about this?"

Neville nodded. "It's not my place to read it, I don't want to be an Auror and I don't want to know what was done by the Dark Lord."

Harry opened his trunk and tucked it away under other things to keep it hidden for now. "I think I will be able to prove his innocence, even if Voldemort is back."

Neville opened his mouth and started stuttering. "Bbbbback? He's alive?"

Harry nodded and looked down solemnly. "Yes. He is gaining power again."

Neville took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Then I guess that book might have more importance than just helping Sirius."

Harry looked back up. What did Neville mean?

"It has all the information father ever found out about the Dark Lord. He was in charge of the group that was tracking and trying to capture or kill him. Father told me about it once and that was all, he expected me to read the rest from the journal."

Harry looked back at his trunk. A journal of an Auror against Voldemort, he was going to read it, all of it.

• Edited 2004.09.18 •


	8. Veritaserum

Chapter 08

• Veritaserum •

They finally came. Harry had been waiting for them since he arrived at school. When they finally did come it was almost a surprise, he thought they might not be, that they might think he wouldn't be useful.

She flew in the window at first, sat there and just watched for a long time. Harry knew it wasn't just an ordinary robin, they didn't just sit and listen while a classroom of students milled around. Even once the lecture started it seemed to listen. After time it hopped off the ledge and disappeared behind the chairs for a few minutes. Harry only half listened to McGonagall, he watched for other signs, something was wrong with the Robin, something was different. She appeared then, just stood up in the rear of the class. Harry was startled to say the least but knew who she was. No one else seemed to even notice her. It was another few minutes until she said anything. Most of the students near her jumped when she cleared her throat softly.

McGonagall, who had been reading from a book, stopped and looked up. "Yes, may I help you?"

"Could I borrow Mr. Potter for a minute professor?" She asked nicely. Harry could tell whom she was, the entrance, her obscurity, the small pendant around her neck, it all led to the same conclusion. The pendant especially, it wasn't an official symbol, but every Auror Harry had ever encountered (accept one) carried a gold pendant with Merlin's staff hanging from it. She wanted to talk to Harry about Sirius, they were still making every attempt to catch him.

McGonagall nodded. "Harry, please go with this lady for a few minutes." She seemed to already know who and why this lady was here.

Harry nodded, wondering how many more there would be waiting and how they would try to question him. He stood and walked to the door near the front of the classroom were the Auror was now waiting. She smiled politely. "Please, follow me, we will go somewhere a bit more private."

Outside the door stood two more Aurors, the same age but looking nothing alike. The first had slick, dark black hair with a clean cut; his clothing was well groomed and fashionable, even for muggles. His eyes gave off a smooth appearance and attitude, he got what he wanted. Harry didn't like him immediately. The second was weary looking, his features worn but tough. He wore simple clothing, clean and but the edges frayed and an occasional mended tear. His eyes were soft but forlorn, he was a quiet person, most likely a loner of sorts. Something was different about him, something Harry liked.

The woman smiled brightly to the second man. "Remus, this is Harry."

Harry looked back to Remus Lupin, taking him in, in a different light. Slowly several features became more pronounced, the tough features held an almost unsurpassable strength, he could snap a man in two without too much of a problem. His hair was gray; he had probably had it since he was a child, a symbol of his lycanthropy. His eyes were waking Harry in, recognition showed, a sniff, probably just taking in his scent. Harry wondered what Remus would be like when they first met, wondered what he would do. His hand reached out slow and he gently shook Harry's hand. "Hello Harry, I am..."

"Remus Lupin, yes I know who you are." Harry said.

Remus didn't look surprised at all. "I suspected you might, Sirius has probably told you much-- about many things."

Harry knew what he was hinting at. "He has told me many secrets, about every Marauder." Harry smiled faintly. He loved skirting issues, being able to talk about things without actually talking about them.

Remus nodded again. "Well, let's get this done with. I would like to speak with you afterwards, alone." His eyes darted to the other two Aurors and both nodded an agreement. Harry noticed as they walked that Remus didn't wear a pendant of Merlin's staff either. Strange, maybe Remus had reasons to not wear the pendant, or maybe he wasn't a normal Auror, maybe he was there for one reason, like Peter was. Though Harry hoped they were there for different reasons. Peter wasn't an official Auror, just granted the position from someone high in the bureaucracy. His contacts were most likely some of the untraceable Death Eaters, they were in all level of governments, they must be, they slipped around so easily.

Harry followed Remus down the hallway, into an empty classroom Harry had not been to yet. A fourth Auror was sitting at the desk in the front of the classroom. As Harry walked in the Auror looked up and Harry stopped, having glanced at the man's eyes. Harry stared at them and shivered, reminded of the evil they had done.

"Peter." Harry hissed while Peter smiled broadly.

"Harry, it's good to finally meet you face to face. I see you don't seem to think highly of me. Sirius must be feeding you lies about me."

Harry nearly jumped at him, he wanted to rip his face off, tear off each of his limbs, to curse him with an unforgivable until he couldn't think right. He calmed himself, there were 3 other Aurors present, and he couldn't do anything now they would stop him before he ever reached Peter. If only they were alone in a room. He would wait, wait until the right time and then Peter would get what he deserved, from him or from another, it was karma.

"No matter what lies you've told others, I know the truth."

Peter smirked. "Harry, Harry, Harry, come now. Sit, rest, and let's talk."

Harry sat down in a chair the woman pulled out for him. "Thank you..."

"Bebe, you can call me Birdie, everyone does." She smiled again, Harry thought she was nice, especially for an Auror. She handed him a drink. "Here, this might take a while."

Harry accepted the drink and took a gulp, it wasn't water, and it tasted bitter and had a lingering taste that continued to get worse. "What... what was that?" His head started to spinning and he closed his eyes trying to keep focus on what was happening. He heard someone, Peter most likely, laugh shortly and say something that sounded like a long humming. Slowly the world came back into focus and Harry heaved a sigh of relief.

Peter was standing. "Well, it seams Harry didn't take well to the Veritaserum."

Remus' head jerked over to Peter. "You didn't have authorization to..."

Peter laughed again. "Remus, you should be one to talk after everything you've done. Besides, you want Black as much as I do. I've just circumvented some steps along the path this time; I'll make sure it's all taken care of later."

Remus shook his head. "Peter, I know we haven't exactly agreed on a lot of things in a long time... since it happened. But this needs to be done properly, through the right channels. We can't just go completely rogue, you especially, you'll loose the chance to be an Auror, you've cut it too close too many times."

Peter glanced over at Birdie. "You two wait outside, we'll keep everything noted and let you know what he said."

Birdie looked back and forth between Remus and Peter for a long time unsure of what to do until Peter spoke again. "As your superior officer I order you to wait outside Birdie. Remus go with her, if anyone gets into trouble about this it'll be me."

Finally Birdie nodded and took Remus' hand, leading him outside, he didn't fight to stay.

Harry sluggishly looked back at Peter who was grinning mischievously. He stood and nodded towards the door as a signal to lock it. The other man walked over and waved his wand over the door. Harry knew they were locking everyone out and probably putting some sort of silencing spell up. He had seen the ritual before because he had performed both before. This man too, although an Auror was undoubtedly either under the influence or was a Death Eater himself.

"Now Harry, it's been a while since I've been this close to you, even on our raids you two always seemed to sneak out before we got there. You didn't have an inside man did you?"

"No." It came out before Harry could even think about it. Harry tried to concentrate on thinking straight, to control himself.

"You know the truth don't you Harry? What I did, how foolish Sirius was for handing your parents right to the Dark Lord without even knowing it?"

The answer started to come again, and Harry fought it but couldn't stop it. "Yes, I know the whole story. It wasn't Sirius's fault that you're a murdering... a murdering bast..."

"Say it Harry, come on, let's here it." Peter seemed to have fun toying with Harry, teasing him about what he did. "You know, when you killed the Dark Lord it got me into a lot of trouble, I've been working on making up for it for the last 10 years. This is going to get me out of trouble too, first I'm going to get all the information I need and then we'll Obliviate you so you won't remember."

Harry slowly tried to force words out of him, try to say something other than an answer. It was so hard, it was like trying to scream above an explosion, he could open his mouth but nothing would come out.

"Cat got your tongue Harry? You should know that under the influence of Veritaserum you can't ask me anything, you shouldn't have any functions. If it had been any other person fighting it's effects I might be surprised, but my master told me you would be able to do many things."

Harry turned and looked at the second Auror. His smile confirmed the worst, he was a Death Eater officially or unofficially- it didn't matter, he served the Dark Lord. Little voices in the back of Harry's mind started to yell at him, some wanted him to run, some wanted him to let Peter get everything he could and one told him to try and take them both, without a wand. He knew it wouldn't matter, he couldn't over power two full grown men without a wand so he wouldn't be able to get out or fight them.

"So...Harry, lets here it. Where have you and Sirius been hiding all this time?"

Harry felt himself start to answer the question and he struggled against it. "We've been... at... all over England." Somehow he was able to tell them the answer without telling them. His head started pounding hard.

"More specific Harry, don't fight it. Where is the last place you hid?" Peter moved around to the front of the desk and sat down in front of Harry.

Harry felt himself starting to give away the answer and struggled against it again. "In a shack at the base of the hill. In..." He closed his eyes and took several quick breaths of air. "In..." The more he fought it the more he wanted to say it, but he couldn't let them know where Sirius was. His head started pounding, the more he fought it the more it hurt. Slowly it got dark and the pain started to disappear but the pounding sounded like someone was drumming on his head. Then there was nothing, he didn't know what happened.

•

He could feel himself laid out. He was on a mattress, a comfortable one. Slowly, unsure where he was now, unsure what was happening, he opened his eyes. He recognized the room, he had been here before but he couldn't really remember where it was. His mind didn't seem to be functioning correctly. Birdie was standing at the end of the table looking overly concerned.

"Are you alright Harry?" She questioned him softly.

He shook his head, trying to let some of the fog in his head dissipate. "I'm just a little dizzy,"

Her look changed to that of relief for a minute, and then to a straight poker face, the sort that you would usually see on an Auror. "Remus, he's ok, you can come in now."

Remus appeared at the doorway of the Infirmary. "Hello Harry, sorry that happened. Peter gets a little too assertive sometimes."

Harry looked at Remus. "Did I tell him? What did I say? I didn't, did I?"

Remus looked down at Harry. "You told them what we needed to know."

Afraid and unsure what was said, what secrets had been revealed Harry almost started to cry. What did Peter know, about himself, what things he had learned and done? Sirius always said Peter had a one-track mind, that was why he was good at doing things he set his mind to. Maybe, just maybe they hadn't asked Harry anything else accept things about Sirius. Maybe, hopefully, Sirius changed spots, got away from where he was.

"I don't remember saying anything. I didn't want to tell Peter, I don't..." Harry felt weird and suddenly everything sped up for a moment then slowed down.

Remus seemed to move like a puppet, very sluggish and a little jerky. Harry shook his head again and then it went away.

Remus looked down at him, almost thoughtful for a moment. "I'm Sorry for what Peter did; we've never had someone react like that to Veritaserum. It may not be the safest substance, but you didn't take enough to even hurt a newborn." He seemed sad, and angry at the same time.

"Remus Sirius didn't do it, I swear. He wasn't the secret keeper. It wasn't him, it was..."

"Shh Harry," Harry was cut off before he could tell them it was Peter, "rest, you need to rest for a while until the effects of the Veritaserum wear off. If Sirius didn't do it, we'll prove it but we have to catch and question him first." Birdie smiled, almost motherly.

Remus, who looked seriously displeased about something, huffed and turned, leaving the room. Birdie watched him go then turned back to Harry.

"Sorry he's acting like this, it's not what he's usually like, well accept for the past month or two."

Harry's eyes turned to the door where Remus had disappeared. If only they would of listened, if only he could tell them the truth. They wouldn't let him though; they wouldn't let him tell the truth.

"Birdie, what's he like? Remus I mean. Sirius couldn't explain it well. He said it was completely dependant on when. That some days he was quiet and docile, some days shy, sometimes he was rowdy and reckless. Is he like that now? I've not had the chance to meet him until now, it was putting too much at stake, for Sirius I mean, I couldn't just let him get caught." Harry breathed deeply.

"You really care for him don't you?" Birdie asked. Harry stared out the window of the infirmary. Maybe she would listen if he told her everything, slowly though. He would have to make sure not to rush her.

"He tried to be the best father possible, provided the circumstances. It wasn't his fault everything happened like it did, he didn't know it would happen like it did. He's sorry for it, for everything he allowed to happen, he told them, my parents to change secret keepers so that it all wouldn't fall to him. I think he was afraid for himself and my parents, he was afraid he might tell, that he might give away there secret, and afraid of what they might do to him to find it out. He did the only logical thing he could, tell them to get someone else, someone not so obvious. It wasn't Remus so it got passed onto..." He didn't say it, he wanted her to think about it, let it sit in her mind, and she would remember it better if it did.

"Well, that's interesting, really." She didn't sound that interested.

Well, he was doing the best he could, if she wasn't going to listen to him then maybe he could make friends with her and get her to believe later. She was detached right now, thinking, maybe he could start there. "What's wrong Birdie?"

Birdie glanced over to Harry and then back to the floor. "Nothing, I... I was just thinking."

Harry looked quizzically at her. Thinking about what?

"You said Remus always acted different, he's never acted like that before, not that I've seen. He's always been so straightforward and cold. I've always tried to imagine him being shy or rambunctious but I never could, it's so hard to see him like that. Earlier, when he disproved of Peter it surprised me, usually he is the one that is doing something like that, breaking the rules. Until recently I've never seen him act at all different, just quiet and emotionless. I didn't know I he even had emotions until two weeks ago when he snapped at me." Birdie was trying to hide something, keeping something hidden away but letting it out without letting Harry know. He could tell she was letting him know something without actually telling him, but what? "He's always been alone, never wanted a friend even if it was offered. Know one even knows what he's like outside of work, he spends most of his time working anyway, he'll disappear every few weeks for personal business, but no one really know why and that's the only time he doesn't work. He's never failed to do anything and won't let anyone, even if it is difficult, it's like he's punishing himself. Maybe he is, but I wish, I wish he would let some in... Let people get close to him..."

That was it, she like him. Her emotions didn't show but from they way she spoke, the way she played with her fingers she liked him. That was certainly interesting. She looked up at him and smiled, changing the conversation immediately. "So tell me, why did you jump out of the window last week? Was it just to save the teacher?"

Harry looked at her surprised, he knew he shouldn't have been but he was. "How did you know?"

She laughed lightly. "Do you really think we haven't been watching you? I've noticed you're quite keen on what's happening around you and wary also. You were the only person that noticed me come into the classroom."

Harry smiled remembering the beautiful Robin that had drifted in and sat at the window, finally hopping down behind the desks and changing into a woman. "That's why they call you Birdie?"

She nodded. "I'm the only Animagus in the department." Harry thought about Peter, obviously she wasn't the only Animagus. That must be why the Aurors didn't know about Sirius being an Animagus either, neither Peter nor Remus had spoken of it. If they had been watching him they must have known about Paka, and he had sent a few letters to Sirius so he knew Sirius knew what was going on, he had failed to mention some of the more dangerous stunts he had already pulled (like jumping out a window) but he had let him know almost everything. He had also been writing Virginia too, getting every single bit of information that he could about Peter and Sirius and his parents. She was investigating the spells that had been performed, incase there might be some after effect that could help them identify Peter as the keeper, something, any tidbit that might point to him.

"Yeah, I had to save him, one of the students did something stupid and that's how he ended up out the window. He lost his wand when he hit me as he flew out the window, so he couldn't save himself. I had to do something, I thought I might be able to summon the brooms from the hill."

"You thought you might be able to summon them? You seem pretty sure of yourself." Birdie looked at him curiously.

Harry looked at her and smiled, she already knew he could do difficult magic if she had been watching him. "I learned a little something here and there. Anyway, you've been here for how long?" Harry asked.

Birdie smiled. "Well, almost since the beginning of the year. You know, we're always watching you."

It chilled Harry, he had felt it occasionally for the last week but thought it might just be getting used to the castle. "You've been watching me all that time?"

"We know what you do before and after class, the letters you write, everyone you are in contact with. We know everything Harry, except the location of Sirius. We can't seem to locate him." Birdie had some mixed emotions about not finding Sirius. Maybe she could be convinced; it would take time and friendship. Harry thought about it, she seemed to know more than just the people he knew at Hogwarts but if they couldn't find Sirius they couldn't follow Paka, which also meant they didn't know everything. He still had a few secrets.

The door opened and Harry looked over surprised to see Ender smiling brightly. Birdie hugged him tightly.

"It's good to see you, I'm sorry I haven't been able to yet, had to keep myself a secret. You would know all about that though." She teased Ender happily.

"Yes," he looked over to Harry. "I know all about secret missions."

"Harry, this wonderful Auror happens to be my daughter." Harry almost choked, it was difficult to see Ender as a father.

"Would you excuse us for a few minutes Harry? We have a few things to talk about then I can leave her to do tortuous things to you." Ender smiled and Birdie hit him.

"Dad!"

Harry smiled and almost laughed Ender seemed to know how to do everything right. He watched the two disappear into the hallway. He laid his head down and stared up at the ceiling for what seemed like hours until the door opened and a very emotionally distressed Birdie walked into the room. Her face she looked down at Harry and then took a deep breath.

"They caught Sirius, he's dead." Harry took a deep breath and then another. It was impossible, they couldn't have caught Sirius, he was in hiding, he had stayed out of their hands for 10 years, and he couldn't just get caught now.

"NO!" He shook his head, he didn't want to admit it, "They didn't, he's fine."

Birdie shook her head. "I'm sorry Harry, Remus just got the message. Peter and McDaniel went after him; they seemed to have gotten enough information from you while you were under Veritaserum's influence. At least, that's what they alluded too. Remus is headed there now to find out everything, he wasn't even ready for it to happen this quickly.

Harry rolled away from Birdie and pounded his fist on the bed. "He can't be, he just can't. We've gotten away so many times before, it couldn't happen now. Where was he Birdie, where did they catch him?"

"Just above a little village. Otter something-or-other. They weren't too specific, it seemed like he was in a hurry when he reported to Remus."

Ottery St. Catchpole, that was where they had been. They couldn't have just found him. But if they knew about Virginia then they could have figured it out from her being his friend. Why didn't Sirius leave, why did he have to stay? He knew it wouldn't be safe.

Harry rolled again to the side, standing up. "I have to go see him."

Harry started for the door but was blocked by Birdie immediately. "You can't leave, you aren't in the shape to leave this room and I can't let you go anyway, it would be defying my orders." Harry nodded and stepped back, he tried to remember if there was a secret passage that was in the room. If there was then he could sneak out if Birdie would lie for a few minutes. But first she would have to leave the room.

"Birdie, I'm a bit hungry, would you mind getting me something to eat?"

Birdie shook her head. "I'm sorry about it Harry, we were supposed to catch him, not let him die."

Harry closed his eyes, fighting away tears. "Peter didn't want people to know the truth and it was easier to get rid of Sirius in his position. No one believes the guilty."

Birdie turned and looked at Harry with a curiosity for a second and then turned away. "I'll get that food right away. Now don't you go anywhere." She closed the door and most likely locked it from the outside.

Harry rushed over to the corner and counted the bricks, there was a passage here, somewhere. Nine over, five across, push the stone pull the one above. The first stone didn't work, the bottom stone didn't press in, six over perhaps? He tried, nothing, six and eight? No. Closing his eyes, Harry tried to recall Sirius saying something about the passage maybe it was nine over and five up. He pushed and the rock gave way, pushing his hand into the hollowed out portion of the rock above he pulled hard. It also gave way. The rocks flowed inward, slowly shaping a passage, a small passage.

Harry pushed himself into the hole and started crawling. The passage opened up a moment later into a much larger passage, this one wound down the castle. He hurried along, once they found he had disappeared they would look for him. If he could just get off the grounds, into the Forbidden Forest of Hogsmeade, he could apparate away to the shack.

The path almost dropped out from under him, suddenly becoming a nearly sheer drop then slowly leveling out. Harry, unable to see clearly, stumbled and lost his footing, falling down the path. He rolled, unable to stop himself. As he fell something snapped, he cried out in pain but in the deserted tunnel no one would hear him. His body continued rolling for several more meters and Harry whimpered again. The tunnel finally leveled off and he came to a stop, laying flat on his face, his hand tucked under him at a strange angle.

He wasn't sure if it was broken, but it was extremely painful. He raised his head and looked around, he tried to get his bearings, but never having been in the passage he didn't know how much further it went. His mind focused on the most important thing, his wand. He turned as best as possible looking for it, it had disappeared sometime during the fall. After several minutes of painful searching he concluded that he wouldn't be able to find it and stopped completely.

Unable to do much else he lay back on his back and stared at the dimly lit ceiling. His thoughts turned to the last hour. Why didn't Sirius escape this time? Why, after the last ten years, after every close encounter they had had, why now? Angry at the world, angry that life was so unfair Harry found he couldn't do anything but cry. It was a long time before the tears letup, before he could think of anything else besides Sirius. Peter Pettigrew filled his mind, he was going to kill him, he was going to tear him apart, make him pay for all the pain and death he had caused. First, he would have to get out of this place.

Slowly, ever so slowly, he pulled himself to his feet. One of his ankles was swollen and tender, too tender to walk with. So he leaned against the wall, using it as a sort of crutch. Using his good foot and good arm he made his way step by step down the passage. After an hour or so of falling and getting back up and continuing on, he found himself presented with a wall. It was the end of the passage, on the other side was a corridor, one of the main halls in the castle. He remembered where it let out, but couldn't remember how it opened, another trick of some sort. He dropped back down to the ground, knowing that if he let himself relax, if he'd think about it long enough maybe he could remember what Sirius had said about getting out of the tunnel. He closed his eyes, trying to think straight. Slowly his mind darkened until he couldn't even think. There were voices, close but at the same time far-off. He could barely hear them talking.

"You think he's alright?"

"Looks as though he was struck by a dragon."

"Alicia might be able to get a friend in Ravenclaw to help us out. She got us out of trouble last time, we'll just have to make sure we give her a good thank-you gift."

"I'll give her a proper gift." There was a snort. "No one's outside the passage right?"

"No, they're all in their common rooms and Filch said he'd leave us be when he caught me wandering earlier. Said we had better take proper care of him."

"I've never seen Filch do that."

"Surprised me too, surprised me even more he knew we could find him."

"Think he knows?"

"Yeah, I think he knows we took it."

"But he couldn't know what it was."

"He might, he just might not know how to activate it."

"Well, let's get him going, we need to get him into the common room before anyone spots us out this late."

Harry felt himself being lifted into the air. The pain was too great, he couldn't grasp consciousness any longer and everything went black again.

•

He was in his room again. Slowly, cautiously, he sat up, testing himself. His arm was ok, his ankle sore, but no longer swollen and painful. Sitting up he remember little pieces of what had happened, someone standing over him, healing him, hands carrying him to bed, a friendly voice arguing just beyond his curtain, Hermione.

He pulled the curtain to the side, looking around, nobody was in the room. Through the window he noticed that the sun was up, high in the sky. Harry wondered and hoped it was only Friday, it had been Thursday. All of the sudden everything rushed back to him. He had talked to an Auror... named... Birdie, and Peter and Remus... Sirius, they had killed him.

Harry tried to cry but could not, his tears wouldn't come. Damn them all. Damn Peter damn Voldemort. Grudgingly, knowing that he would have to do it anyway, Harry stood up. One step at a time, he had to do it, he had to get along with life, and he would, little by little. First to the bathroom, splash some water on his face. Pull on a clean shirt. Out of the boys' dorm, down the stairs and into the common room. When he came to the landing above the common room he noticed that there was one person in the common room, Hermione.

As Harry took another step she looked up. "Harry!" Her voice was happy and sad all at once, she gave him a look of pity for a moment. "I'm sorry Harry, I heard about everything, about Sirius." He took a deep breath and another step, down the staircase, step by step. He looked up again, seeing a concerned look pass over Hermione's face. "Harry?"

Another step and he stopped thinking. "Thank you Hermione."

"You don't look well at all Harry. Are you sure everything's ok?"

One step and another he could do this. He made it to the bottom of the staircase and grabbed a hold of the banner, feeling a bit overwhelmed. "it's all alrigh..." he blinked as he spoke and the world suddenly sped up.

Hermione sat for a second and then practically leapt out of her chair and ran towards Harry. Startled he blinked again she slowed, moving at a grueling pace.

Harry shut his eyes tightly and covered his face with his hands. When he opened his eyes and dropped his hands everything was back to normal accept for Hermione was right next to him and looking at him strangely. "Harry, you look ill."

He looked directly at her and with all of the nerve he could muster spoke sadly. "I'm fine Hermione, just having troubles dealing with it." He bowed his head and then looked back up, curiosity overtaking every other sensation he was having. "Someone pulled me out, who?"

Hermione blinked, a little surprised at the change of conversations. "Uh... Gred-- no Fred and George Weasley, Ron's older brothers. They brought you in last night pretty late. Said they had found you in one of the old vacant hallways. Everyone had been looking for you since yesterday afternoon. Well, most of the Gryffindor's and a few Hufflepuffs. Someone said something to a Slytherin, and Malfoy told us that that he'd rather eat a live Chunga than look for you, most of the Slytherins seemed to agree."

Harry wouldn't have thought a Slytherin would help him anyway. So, he was found, by the Weasleys, with the use of the Marauders Map no doubt, but why was Hermione here, waiting for him? "Hermione, I was wondering why..."

"I'm here because I was worried, I needed to see how long you would be ill for. The twins brought a friend here to fix you, I wanted them to take you to the infirmary but they said you would only get into more trouble. Ms. Ingress seemed to do a good job, I watched. She said you would probably be sore for the next few days, that's you had broken your ankle badly."

Harry looked down at his ankle, he couldn't remember the pain, and just that it was almost too much to even think about. In fact he didn't even want to think about it. "Hermione, I know you wanted to see if I was ok, but why are you the only one?"

"The teachers thought it would be best if I stayed, that I would make sure everything was taken care of properly. Besides, I'm a week ahead in everything accept potions." Hermione tugged a little on the corner of her hair.

Harry sat down, he didn't feel at all like standing anymore. "Um ok, you can go to class or do whatever you're supposed to." If Hermione would leave maybe he could get out of the castle without any other obstacles.

"I will not leave, I was told that you would sneak out, that that's how you disappeared earlier. I am not about to have you getting yourself into trouble. You have to deal with what happened, nothing can change it."

That was it! Something could change it. Harry knew how he could; he would just have to get a hold of something.

• Edited 2004.09.18 •


	9. To Turn Back the Hand of Time

Chapter 09

• Turn Back the Hand of Time •

He didn't have that much time, he would have to do some things he didn't want to do. Break a rule he didn't want to break.

Lying in bed, he thought long and hard, it wasn't anything he had to really decide, he just had to think about how he would do it. Dumbledore would surely have one, but he couldn't just ask. He would steal it, break in and take it. What did it look like? All he knew is what Sirius had said what it could do, not what it looked like.

He couldn't leave the towers though they wouldn't let him. Birdie was outside watching and he wouldn't be able to research it. He heard the door open and three boys walked into the room. Neville was the last and continued past his bed to Harry's.

"You alright mate?" he asked, the other boys ignoring him.

Harry grabbed him and pulled him closer. "I'm not, but I need you to do something for me. I need to know about time-turners. I have to go back and change everything, make sure he doesn't die."

"But Harry..." Neville tried to discourage him but Harry wasn't about to listen to it.

"No, I don't want to here it. The whole bloody world could screw off for all I care about them. I want Sirius alive." Harry whispered fiercely.

"I can do it, but you have most of the information anyway. Fathers diaries, he had one, had to use it on occasion to keep the Minister or an important official alive. I remember him speaking about it. There are only a dozen or so that are legal in the whole of the wizarding community. You aren't about to get one, they keep them under very tight security at the ministry, all of them but the ones that are being used."

"That are legal?" Harry was curious, that made it sound like there were more than a dozen.

"Yeah, father says they've caught more than a few Death Eaters with them. They don't always work and it's highly illegal magic, if you get caught with something like that, they'll send you to Azkaban for life or worse. It's not right to be playing with time."

Harry wondered how many really were out there. If Mr. Longbottom had found a few he wondered if he kept them, wondered if he might have had a chance or two to keep them and had done so. He flipped open his chest and pulled out the journal. "Do you know where in the journal it is Neville?"

"It's throughout the whole thing, I'm sure. But, knowing my dad, he has a detailed explanation of it when he first got it. I think it was in April of the third year, see if you can find that."

Harry opened the journal for the first time and flipped through the pages, it went on and on forever. Some says had ten pages of information. Harry finally came to April and slowed down, glancing at the pages, looking for any signs of the device. He didn't have to look hard, at the middle of the month he found an entry with a detailed drawing of the Time-Turner, he had never seen one in real life but that had to be it, it matched the description perfectly. Neville looked over his shoulders when he stopped.

"Yeah, that's the page to start on."

Harry slowly flipped through the next pages. There was a great deal of information, multiplication, spells, locking charms, management, detection, prevention, almost anything you could and ever would ever want to know. 15 pages of information on time-turners, and the last page included several referenced further on in the book, mostly misuse of time magic's but an occasional creation and misuse of time objects. One was a grandfather clock another was a muggle stopwatch. The rest were just shoddy time-turner replicas. Slowly Harry scanned down the references to other time objects and one came to his attention. It was dated 10 years prior, at Hogwarts. He flipped forward to the page, hoping that whatever it was, was still here.

_I came across a 13th Legal Time Object today while investigating signs of time magic at the __Hogwarts__School__ of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Time magic was reported used at approximately 1700 Hours and Troth was immediately dispatched to the scene. Due to the charms and barriers surrounding the school the amount of time and location of use was unable to be detected._

_Agent Troth returned at 1900 hours with no information as to the things which had transpired there. Naturally I was immediately located and given the assignment immediately. _

Wow, Neville's dad sure sounded like he was a dead bore. At least he was thorough. Harry scanned down the rest of the page and the next, quick overviews of interviews of staff at the school about anything that might have happened pertaining to the time magic. Finally on the third page following Professor Dumbledore was interviewed. Harry slowed and focused in on the end of the interview when he spotted a reference note.

_The headmaster produced a document (Reference #81932 of the archives.) signed by the former Minister of Magic, Kluss Taft. The document gave full rights to a single time object to Albus Dumbledore. Tests were administrated and none proved that the document was in anyway forged or falsified._

Again he went on and on about the rest of the interview, explaining the time object, a pocket watch, in the greatest detail. After the interview he continued on about the object. Somehow he could tell what each part of the watch did, without asking. He pointed out what the two knobs on either side of the watch did and the likely time-to-twist ratio. He even mentioned were it was kept, in the second cabinet on the right, top shelf next to a gray box.

Neville, who was still reading also, from over Harry's shoulder took a quick breath when Harry closed the journal. "You aren't seriously thinking of..."

"It's the only way Neville, I can't wait too much longer, everything would be harder and the change would be too dramatic. Your father stated that anything over a week was utterly impossible, the magic needed to draw that power was unavailable. It's already been a day, and it would take me time to get off the grounds, I can't go find something else."

Neville looked a little scared. "I don't know Harry, it's in Dumbledore's office, it's one of his personal things. The only person that the Dark Lord was afraid of was Dumbledore, of all the wizards in the world. Don't you think that he had good reason to be afraid of him?"

Harry smiled, he knew how to draw Neville into it. "I'm going to do this Neville, I will not allow for anyone to do this and get away with it. The object is legal and they cannot monitor it well because of where we are. We will take it and wait for the charms to be reinforced tomorrow, which will be the best time to use it. I never told you that you had to help, if you choose not to I understand."

Neville looked insulted. "You're saying you don't want my help, well we'll see about that. It was my fathers journal you found this in, you are not about to go have fun and leave me here to worry, you'd have to put a petrifaction spell on me. Besides, you're going to have to have someone to help you get into Dumbledore's office without being detected and I am good at that. And you're going to have to get it and then use it without being caught, I don't even know if I will be enough to get it done."

Harry sat down, thinking. They would need a distraction of some sort, a big one. Who better to pull a prank than the duo that was already infamous for it? He'd need the map too, it would be very helpful in keeping him out of dangers way. What else? He'd have to know everything about how Sirius died to prevent it. That would require talking to one of the Aurors, Remus certainly didn't want to talk to him and so that left Birdie or Peter. Peter probably wouldn't be the best person to talk to especially if they were alone, Harry might do something he would regret. So he was going to have to face Birdie again who seemed angry with him.

•

The twins had agreed, it was easy to get them to agree to the prank. What capable Gryffindor would deny themselves a chance to pull a prank on the whole Slytherin house, especially one that they could get away with. It took almost no convincing whatsoever accept that they did have a lot of questions about why he wanted them to do it. Getting them to release the map, or even show it to him was almost out of the question, they protected it like a mother protected her child. He didn't have much to trade in exchange for it and so he was still trying to figure out what would convince them to let him use it.

Birdie talked to him when he asked about Sirius. She was a little angry with him, Harry supposed that disappearing under her watch wasn't something that happened often and she had probably gotten into trouble for it. He got the whole story, every single detail she knew of.

It was all sketchy of course. Peter and McDaniel's left from Hogwarts to capture him as soon as Harry had given them they information. They sent for backup but didn't wait for any to come. When they got to the shack they found Sirius inside, unaware of their presence. Apparently he fought them tooth and nail and knocked McDaniel's unconscious even after losing his wand. Peter trying to defend McDaniel's had accidentally knocked a lamp off the chair and the place immediately lit up. Peter was able to knock Sirius unconscious and he pulled McDaniel's to safety but by the time he had him out the whole place was burning and he couldn't get back in to Sirius. Peter claimed to have tried to stop the fire, but was unable to attain enough strength in his spell to stop the fire.

When the other Aurors arrived the shack was completely burned down. Peter said he hadn't seen Sirius escape nor heard him scream so they sorted through the rubble and found his body finally, charred beyond recognition. His remains were immediately transported to a burial plot where no one would know so that a Voldemort or another Death Eater would not try to bring him back to life.

Harry knew that that was probably a skewed point of view, that peter had probably started the fire on purpose and let Sirius burn to death while he watched to insure he didn't escape. He hated Peter even more, he thought Peter might have made a mistake at one point in his life, thought that he was just too unsure of himself, unable to do something without guidance but he did things, evil things, for his own purposes.

Harry glanced up from the couch to find the twins entering. Fred spoke first, somehow Harry could tell them apart everyone saw them is exactly the same but Fred had a little more contour to his face and his face was a tad bit narrower. While George had a little bit of a deeper voice and usually spoke out first.

"We were thinking it over, you using the Marauders Map..."

"And we decided, if you need the map to use. Then well..." George picked up as soon as he trailed off, it was there idea of a joke, it made things really confusing.

Fred picked up again. "We'll allow you to borrow it."

"On the condition that you agree to let us meet the Marauders. You said that you knew them, that they were your friends."

"And we've always wanted to meet them so we figured you might be able to help. You can help us right?" Fred gave a wide grin.

Harry thought it over; he could do his best possible. "I suppose I could. One died a long time ago and as long as you guys pull off this prank I think that at least one of the other three will want to meet you for doing that alone. The other two... One is a Death Eater now so I don't know; I've only spoken to him once in my lifetime. The other is already here and I'll let you know who he is and talk to him, see what he thinks, is that ok?"

"One's a Death Eater?" George almost fell backwards.

Harry nodded; he didn't want to think about this right now. "Yes, he betrayed Prongs, that's why he's dead."

How do you know that that...." George started to ask a question but Fred covered his mouth and shook his head.

"We'll do it, we can talk the details over later. Here is the Map." He pulled out a parchment from his trousers and handed it to Harry.

Harry smiled and pulled out his wand. "Padfoot's never up to any good and Prongs is always there to save him." The map slowly filled and a word appeared on the side. 'Prongs?' the twins gasped. "That's not right, the map told us that it only works with one phrase, 'I solemnly swear I'm up to no good.'

Harry smiled, the map made others think that, and there was much more to it than they could know about. It had part of all of the Marauders in it, and was fairly intelligent on it's own. "You never know with a magical object, they have a mind of their own. This phrase gives me a little more control over the map." The phrase did indeed give him more access, it showed Sirius's parents home and his grandfathers along with a great deal of the Hogsmeade (the map had been taken before Hogsmeade was completely mapped) and what areas they knew of the Forbidden Forest. Those were both a secret that even the Weasley's didn't need to know, both could get all of the marauders into a great deal of trouble.

George, knowing Harry wasn't about to let any more information out about the map changed the course of the conversation. "You've got all the supplies for the prank right Harry?"

Harry nodded. "They're all in my trunk, I made sure I had all the potion brewed and even tested the ones for skin on Forni's Clabberts down near the greenhouse. He almost caught me, but the potion does work. All the others are easy to make so they should work and all you have to do is memorize the charms and incantations that you need to use. I'll have everything set aside where I told you it would be before you wake up tomorrow."

George smiled. "We've go them down to a tee."

Harry nodded. "Then, we'll all see how everything works tomorrow." The twins nodded and both left, speaking softly amongst themselves about something. Harry watched them leave and, heaving a sigh laid his head back on the couch to find Hermione and Ron right behind him looking down at him. He jumped and ended up on the floor, he usually could tell when someone was coming but he hadn't heard these two.

"You're not about to pull anther dangerous stunt are you Harry? I don't think that you should, you got hurt last time, I don't want to see that again." Hermione gave him a look he wasn't sure that he wanted to know the meaning of.

Ron on the other hand stood there like an oaf, unsure what he was going to say. Harry didn't know why he was there in the first place; he didn't seem to have any reason to be there. A silence crept up into the room and Harry felt a little uncomfortable.

Neville came barreling out of the boys' dorm and down the stairs, missing the first two steps and stumbling down the rest of the stairs, almost falling flat faced. "I found it Harry! How too..." he suddenly noticed Ron and Hermione looking at him like he was nutters. "I found out how to turn water to wine, want to see if we can do it?"

Well at least he covered it up well. The silence following his statement revealed that neither of the two believed what he had just said. It also gave Harry some time to think. Hermione could be useful, she practically inhaled magic whether written or said. She had read all of the books Harry had brought with him and absorbed most of the general ideas and a great deal of the magic. She had also, at the same time, checked out multiple library books and read those too. Harry had read a few but didn't seem to have as much time as Hermione did. Maybe she had picked up some information about time-turners. Even if she hadn't he decided that she could still know, she was trustworthy and wouldn't say anything.

Ron on the other hand, Ron was brash and ill tempered. His temper was especially an issue. He tended to get into fights whether or not he had any chance of winning. He also had a tendency to say things that he didn't mean to say and do things he didn't mean to do. On the other hand he had also kept the secret of Harry and Virginia, he wasn't such a bad guy but Harry wasn't sure how much he really wanted to or could trust him. The friendship, meager as it was, was still shaky and Harry decided this time it was best to keep him out of it.

"Neville why don't you show Hermione what you think is the spell to do it is, see if she thinks that that is your best bet. You don't want anything to go wrong." Harry smiled and winked barely noticeably.

Neville looked extremely confused for a minute and then it dawned on him what Harry meant. "Ok Hermione, why don't we go down to the library and talk about this. I don't want to get this wrong."

Hermione, still unsure of exactly what was going on, followed Neville out the door thinking to herself. Harry started to follow but was stopped by Ron.

"Expect a person that isn't there." Then he stalked off as if angry about something.

Harry didn't even know what he meant by that or even why he had said it. He just sort of let it drift to the back of mind. He would worry about what Ron said later.

•

Neville had been standing near the door for almost the whole day. He had not found a single person who had gone into Dumbledore's quarters which was necessary; they needed to find the password. Harry traded spots with him and sat up against the wall, allowing Neville to take a few minutes off to go take care of a few things and get something to eat. Harry had been in his room brewing an extra potion he had decided to add.

All in all the day was going ok and even though he was tired Harry was feeling more confident that they would be able to pull off the stunt. He heard a snicker and looked up.

"So, Potter looses his no-good-waste of a godfather and no he sits in the hallways, crying his eyes out. What do you think Goyle, should we give him our best tell him that we feel sorry for him like every other fool in this school. Or should we tell him the truth, that Sirius Black deserved that and more?"

Harry growled and leapt to his feet. "You and I Malfoy, let's duel, two nights from now, at midnight. No seconds, no staff, you and I dueling. You up to it or will you wet your pants and stand behind a teacher like a baby?"

Before he could answer Professor McGonagall appeared from down the hallway. "You boys aren't causing problems are you?"

Harry stared at Malfoy for a long time. "No professor, just having a little friendly chat." Malfoy finally said, grinning. "We were about to leave him to his thoughts anyway. Goodbye Potter."

•

Hermione was standing next to him. She was going in and Neville would be watching the door to make sure he could distract the teacher long enough for Harry and Hermione to get out. He would also be able to alert them if Harry or Hermione didn't see anything on the Marauders Map.

Soon dinner would start and everyone was going to be there. Harry had, after much convincing on his part, been allowed access to the Slytherins food. He had spiced up anything he could get his hands on with his own special potions. That would start it all, the potions would do three things, mute them, cause them to glow a brilliant green and eventually they would start to float. It was possible that all three wouldn't happen to every Slytherin, it would depend on what food they partook of within the first five minutes of the meal.

Following the flying Slytherins the twins would perform a long incantation that would confound everyone in the area for several hours so that no one would understand what each other was saying. Then, for the grand finale they would set fire to the Slytherins (purely illusion of course).

What Chaos would come of it? Sirius had told Harry he always wanted to do it while they were in school, but the Marauders felt that it was too big a prank to pull unless there was a good reason behind it. Of course, they had never found a good reason to so Sirius merely talked about it dreamily. Now all of his planning had not gone to waste. Oh, if he could see it happen and know that his greatest prank was getting him out of trouble, keeping him alive.

The doors to the Great Hall closed, as usual, dinner would soon start. Neville, Hermione and Harry all sprinted down the hallway to Dumbledore's office. If, and it was a big if, the prank did not work they wanted to be out of Dumbledore's office as quick as possible. If it did work then they most likely would have more than enough extra time. When they reached the statue of the Gargoyle that guarded the office doors Harry pulled out the Marauders map, which was already activated. A few people weren't at Dinner, Filch & Peeves, were in Filch's office along with Mrs. Norris. 5 Slytherins were hidden away in their cave, and two unlabeled dots were nearing the Great Hall moving through a secret passage.

The two unlabeled dots were a mystery to Harry, they should have been labeled, everyone was labeled, that was how the map worked. But for now, as there was no danger immediately he knew he could contemplate the blank dots later. He nodded at Neville who gave the password to the Gargoyle and ushered Harry and Hermione in.

"You've got about 7 minutes of safe time, after that I wouldn't spend another second in there." Neville met Harry's gaze, he was trying to make his point simple.

Harry nodded. "We'll only been gone for a moment, you wont even know we've gone."

Then, turning Harry followed Hermione up the stairs to Dumbledore's office. Hermione waited at the door. She wasn't going to open it, she still didn't have the confidence, and Harry knew he would have to work on that. Harry turned the handle and pressed the door inward. The room was dimly lit by to flickering torches. Harry fingered the pocket watch he had transfigured the other day in class. It was the best he could do for a temporary replacement, it didn't work but wound and looked real.

Hermione stopped him. "You're sure we won't be caught?"

"I'm sure we'll be fine Hermione." He gently pushed the door harder and moved in quickly, he didn't want to stay too long like Neville had warned. The prank would begin anytime; soon there would be 200 floating Slytherins with no way to bring them down. _In the cabinet, on the top shelf, next to the gray box_. He looked about, there were several cabinets, and it had to be in one of them.

"Look through the ones on the left, it's a gold pocket watch, it will most likely be next to a gray box." Hermione nodded and moved over to the cabinet, opening the first one and starting to look through them best as possible. Harry opened the first cabinet on the right and was astounded at what he saw. Inside were things that Harry had only read about in books, the sort of things Sirius would have loved to get his hands on. Expensive and very rare, the collection Dumbledore probably had in this office was likely the biggest single collection in the wizarding world. Harry wasn't sure; there were others who collected objects like these.

He closed the cabinet and moved on to the next, it contained more rare objects, a cauldron of stone that had a mark on the side, Merlin's mark. A set of special gloves, they looked like the only half existed in this world, Harry wondered what they did but moved on to the next cabinet. Hermione had made her way almost all the way around, not knowing what the objects these cabinets hid were. Harry wondered how long Dumbledore had been around, and how he was able to keep a collection like this a secret.

"I think I've found it." Hermione called out.

Harry closed the cabinet and moved over to the one Hermione stood in front of. Harry came over and looked to the top of the cabinet, sure enough, across the top was a gray box and just to the right was a gold chain dangling from the shelf. Harry tried summoning it, and then levitating it, nothing seemed to work. Finally, after trying every way he could think of he asked Hermione to stand on his shoulders. It took a moment of balancing but they finally got high enough to reach the watch. Harry walked forward and carefully balanced her.

"Harry, the watch doesn't want to move. It's stuck. I... Ahh!"

Her balance was thrown off and no matter how much Harry tried to balance her he couldn't. She leaned forward; trying to help herself is best as possible. Harry was knocked to the floor and Hermione landed on top of him. "I got it, but I think I knocked everything else down."

She crawled off of Harry who looked up; sure enough the whole top shelf had come down. Harry stood up and heaved a sigh. "We can levitate them back up there."

Hermione nodded and pulled out her wand. Harry started to move objects up when there was a screech. Harry, scared that someone might have found them dropped the gray box he was moving up there. He turned to find a bird, dimly lit and not moving. With a sigh of relief he turned back to the box, he needed to get this cleaned up. He started to levitate it once again when Hermione called out in surprise, once again the box dropped to the ground.

Harry, turning, both impatient and surprised, turned to Hermione. "What now?"

"It has your name on it." Hermione pointed to the box lying on the ground.

Harry turned and looked down at the box, sure enough, on the top, written in small and loopy letters was the name Harry Potter. Down the halls he could hear the screams of the students, they sounded fairly consistent, the prank wasn't through yet. Maybe the Slytherins had been set afire first.

Harry looked at the box again, it had his name on it, did he dare open it? And if it was for him why did Dumbledore have it? Harry reached down and picked it up, and as he stood he felt a lightweight on his shoulder. Some sort of strength passed through him and he shivered, he turned his head just slightly to see the bird was now mounted on his shoulders. He focused back at the box, pulling the string on the bow slowly tell it gave a little resistance then unraveled completely, dropping away from the box.

He thought it over again, what could there be hidden inside that box? It wasn't heavy, but wasn't light, it didn't rattle and but sat well, like It didn't want to move. He sat it back down on the ground and looked at it, his eyes tracing the curves of his neatly written name. Someone had that there, it was waiting for him, it was his. Why hadn't they given it to him yet, and why did they have it?

Hermione finally took a step forward and, leaning down, made the choice for him. "Let's at least see what's in it, we can't just sit around here thinking about it."

She flipped the lid off and Harry knew immediately what it was. The material shimmered softly in the dim light. "Fathers invisibility cloak." He pulled it up and looked at it. "Sirius said that he never found it. He assumed it had been taken as evidence or destroyed. Father must have given it to Dumbledore, asked him to keep it safe, because it was so rare."

"Then he must have been saving it for you all this time."

"Is there anything else in the box?" Sirius had told Harry once that that his father had always worn a ring, on a chain around his neck. It had been in the family for years, a treasure they had kept for generations.

Hermione looked into the box and pulled out a small item; Harry's heart leapt with hope, if he could have anything from his father it would be the ring. "Only a key, a golden key."

Harry, still holding the invisibility cloak didn't take long to decide that the cloak would be very, very, useful. "Let's get everything back up and go, we'll be taking the key and cloak."

Hermione helped him get the rest of the items back up onto the shelf and Harry nudged the bird of his shoulder. They hurried outside of the room, Harry folding the cloak. Neville was ready to go and they hurried to the Gryffindor towers. To make is seam as though they had been there through dinner he and Neville commenced with a game of GO that they had begun earlier in the day.

Neville had taught Harry over the past few weeks how to play. It had been the most complicated Harry had ever played, and for that reason alone been very interesting. Each move was played several moves ahead, you must be careful and a very deep thinker to play well at all. Harry found it very enjoyable after he learned the basics of the game. Neville was a very difficult opponent; he had been playing since he could understand the concept of the game, at approximately 6 years old. His father wanted him to be a good, strategic thinker so he had hired a professional, a muggle GO player. Neville said it was one of the only things he enjoyed in his whole childhood.

Harry spent several minutes thinking before placing his stone. While Neville studied for his next move Harry pulled out the Marauders Map and saw two dots moving quickly to the Gryffindor towers. Fred and George Weasley. Behind them, in the great hall the dots were no longer well lined up but jumbled horribly, no order at all. Near the front, where the teachers usually sat were empty, they were amongst the students further down in the hall.

Harry nodded towards the entrance and Hermione and Neville looked up, at just the right time. Fred and George stumbled in, followed by the most horrible laughter that Harry had ever heard.

"Assay wada wee?" Fred looked at the three and then back to George.

George smiled, "Larna casa blik mel-nay."

Fred made several gestures with his hands. "Agama cue?"

Both burst into a horrible laughter again. Harry smiled, they couldn't understand each other with words but they were enjoying it nonetheless. It was interesting that they had allowed themselves be included in the confusion spell.

Harry didn't have to wait much longer to see the effects of the spell. A thunderous sound came a few minutes later as the entrance opened and hundreds of Gryffindors, all chattering like chipmunks came tumbling in. Two prefects, who seemed to be the leaders split them up and pointed them towards their dorms. Harry, not wanting to deal with what the prefects might try to ask him nodded for Hermione to join the girls and he and Neville joined the boys. They could return to their game later, it often lasted several days for the past few times.

Of course Percy Weasley stopped him. "Ranas."

Harry snorted, not meaning to. Giving his best I-don't-know-what's-happening look he asked. "What's wrong with everyone?"

It was even funnier when he tried to answer before he thought about it. "Gados nek rasini aky..."

Harry almost snorted again but thought better of it. "Fine, if you want to be like that I'm going to bed, I don't have to listen to you making fun of me." With a swish of his cloak he left Percy standing there speechless. He snickered as soon as he closed the door behind him.

It would be in a few hours, and then it would be right time. Everything was coming together; the knowledge of what would soon be the future would save Sirius's life. He knew where and when people would be, where he would re-appear (Near mid afternoon 6 days prior.) along with everything else he had thought of. Now he had even more, an invisibility cloak and a real feeling that he could do it.

He would take an a passage out of the castle, steal away to Hogsmeade and from there call the Knight Bus. He had glamour chocolates to disguise himself so once he was away from the school he would have no reason to be stopped. In a small leather bag that always kept with him he had a few coins, some floo powder, the key Hermione had found earlier and the Marauders Map.

It seemed like hours had passed when he checked the time, only 23 minutes had passed since the last time he checked. He was going to have to lie, quietly for another 20 minutes or so; he didn't want anyone to see him rustling around before he disappeared. Harry thought about the wonderful things he had come across in Dumbledore's office, he knew he had seen an Ishpi Makwa, an ancient and powerful staff that ancient shaman used to give a person magic, many believed they did not exist at all. Harry believe they did not give people magic, but helped release it. What a wonderful thing, so rare it was believed to not exist.

The bird, Harry recalled the feeling it had given him. If only it would have sung a not or two then he would have known. He believed it a phoenix, another rare item. He had only heard mention and descriptions in books, even symbols but they looked nothing like the real bird. He truly wished to know if it was a phoenix he had seen, that was an experience unto itself. Most were wild, and untamable, they could not be caught, if they were entrapped they would simply disappear.

Harry lay, letting his thoughts roam; it would pass the time quicker. He checked his watch 20 minutes, he thought some more and then there was another 5 minutes. It went quickly and he found himself past time. Quickly he stood and picked up the package he was taking with him, now wrapped by the invisibility cloak. He thought back, he would have liked to have his broom, but as he had not shown up at the tryouts because he was unconscious he still had not been able to get his broom back.

He snuck down into the common room and rechecked what he had packed, pulling the invisibility cloak away and unfolding it, just incase he needed it when he went back. Slowly he wound the top of the pocket watch, counting off the rotations in his head, 33 rotations and 132 hours that was what the book had said one rotation to every four hours. It would give him all the time he needs and more. He pressed the top button down and wondered what it would be like, to travel in time.

His grip tightened and everything around him blurred. His stomach cried out and clenched and his body ached for a brief moment. He had never felt a rush like this in his life; it was like flying a hundred times over but with pain.

• Edited 2004.09.18 •


	10. Fate

Chapter 10

• Fate •

Harry groaned, the world around him slipped back into normal and his head started pounding. He looked around, and took a few quick breaths he felt a surge of adrenaline, that had been interesting. Something was wrong, it was night. It was suppose to be day – two hours give or take a few minutes, but bright outside so that he could get away without anyone seeing him, everyone was in a class now.

Pulling the invisibility cloak over himself he started to leave the common room when he heard something and turned. Hermione was standing at the top of the stairs, yawning. She mumbled something, looked around and went right back into the door. Harry heaved a sigh of relief but turned again when he heard something else. Harry, well, himself several days prior came stumbling out the door holding his hand to his head followed by Neville. Ran out of the dorms being very loud.

"It was Ender I'll bet." Neville was trying to remove his shirt.

Harry almost laughed out loud, it was Sunday morning, Ender had paid them back for fooling around in class by putting a series of spells on them, it hadn't exactly been pleasant the whole weekend.

"Do you think he would really do this, he is a teacher. Maybe it's the twins." The past Harry spoke while itching his arms violently.

Neville, who was very unlike his usual self, seethed under his breathe. "It was him alright, remember what he said when we did that last week, that he would make sure we didn't forget doing it. I sure wont now."

This was when Harry had received another surprise. Several people walked into the common room all at once. Hermione and Zabini came out, wrapped in robes while at the same time Wood and Professor McGonagall walked into the common room from the hallway.

McGonagall wasn't even paying attention to the room, she was very perturbed. "Oliver, this is the sixth time this morning I am telling you this, it is against the rules. Period. And even if I could make an exception, he has already broken more rules than every other first year combined."

Oliver never gave up, he had been hounding McGonagall for the past week to get Harry on the team. "You were there, you saw what he did professor. He jumped out of the Bloody window without..."

"I'm warning you Wood, I do not want to here that sort of language."

"... he jumped out of the window without anything then, after summoning a broom from 100 meters away he pulled out of a 15 meter dive. And, at the same time he passed off a wand to a teacher. I've never seen someone pull out of a 7 meter dive on a Cleansweep. He did the impossible on a broom, that's what we need the impossible, If we want any sort of a chance to win the Quidditch cup this year. Let me try, if he cannot show that he has enough talent to be on the team then I'll quit the team without a thought."

"You'll do no such thing." McGonagall's eyes grew wide.

Wood heaved a sigh of relief. "Then you'll at least five him a chance to prove he can do it?"

Everyone in the room was silent, he remembered hoping that she would say alright, he really wanted to be on the team. McGonagall looked up, finally noticing everyone in the room. "Alright... Harry, you have permission to try out for the team, it's Friday night. Now, no rule breaking, if you break a single rule then you will ruin any chance you have for getting on the team this year. Understand?"

Harry watched himself agree gleefully remembering everything that had happened since then, he had completely forgotten the tryouts on Friday and blown his chances for the team and they had a seeker for this year. Harry hoped that maybe he would be able get on the team next year. No one had said a word since the tryouts, not many people had spoken to him at all.

McGonagall turned to leave and Harry followed her out the door so no one would see him leave. Just as he left out the door he remembered something and turned back to himself. That instant he felt it again, staring right into his own eyes he shivered, it had been an awkward feeling but somehow he had briefly saw himself. At first he thought it was some weird sort of Deja-Vu but now he knew the truth.

It took only a few minutes to get to a secret passage that led to Hogsmeade. Before he left the grounds he checked the Marauders Map to insure that he wouldn't run into anyone on the way out. Something caught his attention, besides the few people that were just getting into their common rooms two people were in the hallways, rather close to Harry. Albus Dumbledore and Peter Pettigrew. Harry crawled out of the passage and quietly made his way down the hallway to see what was going on.

"... not to question him, it's one of the only things I've ever asked of you. Just wait a little longer, be patient-- I keep wondering, what reasons do you have to question him? You already know where they've stayed hidden these past several years and you found nothing there. Sirius has moved somewhere were he cannot be revealed, I don't see how Harry could have any relevant information."

"If I am sure of anything I am sure of this, I can get information out of him. He'll have to endure the truth though, that Sirius was the one that did it. I've been through this before through the courts, and I was proved guiltless, by Judge Crouch himself."

"Yes, you were cleared of all charges weren't you? And by Barty Crouch, he sure has made his way in the world lately hasn't he? Now, with what's happening to the minister and all, he's next in line I believe?" Peter nodded, slightly guarded. "Yes, and with that terrible illness that just keeps getting to the ministers in the last few years it doesn't seem we'll have long to wait. Let us hope that he lives longer than the four who came before him." Dumbledore lost his smile but didn't frown, he seemed to have no emotions whatsoever.

Peter's eyes narrowed slightly. "Yes, he has become a popular figure in the ministry. But there are still those who do not support him or his cause, you being one of them, is there a reason for this?" Harry could see his beady little eyes studying Dumbledore intently.

Dumbledore knew exactly what he was doing, he smiled and chuckled. "I guess I'm just an old stick in the mud. I see politics as the sports of an old man and he needs years of politics before I could ever even think of supporting him. He also wants to change things drastically, I follow a much slower and safer path. But I digress... Peter I've had a sudden thought, I'll allow you one session with Harry, there you must get all the information you need because after that you needn't ask for my answer will always be the same."

Peter's eyes lit up and he smiled. "Thank you Albus. That will be all I need. Tell me, what made you change your mind so suddenly?"

Dumbledore smiled again and his eyes twinkled, slowly moving around the room. Harry could have sworn they came to rest on him for a few moments. "Ah Peter... Fate has a way of making its own decisions, and this path has already taken it's course."

Peter, now finding himself very confused, shrugged his shoulders. "You know Albus, the longer I know you the less sense you make."

Dumbledore chuckled and turned to leave and again Harry felt that he was being watched by those sparkling eyes. Harry backed away from the area and made his way back to the confines of the passage, extremely confused. Sirius wasn't still at the shack, but that was wrong, when Peter had found out he had gone there and found Sirius... but he already knew....

Harry closed his eyes, trying to think, he needed to know where Sirius was. He needed to talk to him in person, tell him what was to happen and stop it from happening. Paka – he could help. Harry moved through the walls until he neared the owlery where he carefully continued through the halls. When he entered the owlery he looked around, Paka didn't spend much time in here, hopefully he was here now.

He clicked his tongue, waiting for Paka to respond and again. Maybe Paka wasn't here. Another moment passed and Harry heard his familiar call. Good, he was here. Harry breathed a sigh of relief and looked around for a parchment to write to Sirius with. He pulled the invisibility cloak from himself and let Paka come to rest on his shoulders.

"Parchment and a quill..." he whispered to himself.

Someone, rather loudly was coming up the stairs. Harry grabbed the invisibility cloak and, brushing Paka of his shoulders, pulled it over himself just as the door opened to reveal Ron. Ron stopped and stared right at Harry, he must have seen him.

"Harry? How did you get here, I've just left you. You said you didn't need any Quidditch pointers and wanted to try and get some more rest. How did you get here so fast and how did you get an invisibility cloak?" Harry moved away from the spot he has stood, maybe if Ron didn't receive an answer he would leave it be, think he was imagining. Of course, that was not the case. Ron closed the door behind him and looked to where Harry had been. "I'll block your path of you don't explain yourself, you'll not be able to leave."

Ron was going to ruin everything. He knew about the invisibility cloak and it wouldn't take him too long to figure out the Harry he had just seen was not the same one he had left in the common room. Why didn't he just sod off? Ron, always getting in the way and now he was going to get Harry in a lot of trouble.

Perhaps he could trust Ron, at the moment it was his only real choice. After contemplating for a minute he pulled the cloak away from himself. "Ron, I need you to help me and not mention this to anyone, even me. The person you left a few minutes ago was me but not me. I came back to stop something terrible that happened in the future and I need to make sure I don't have anyone knowing I am here. Can I trust you to keep silent about it?"

Ron looked at him for a long time before finally nodding. "Nothing happens to Ginny, right?"

Harry shook his head. "No, why do you think that something would happen to her?"

Ron spoke, his voice cracking slightly. "Peter has been to our house several times over the last week. Ginny wasn't allowed to write you about it and she told me not to tell you because something would happen."

Harry sighed and nodded his head. "Well, I already know what happened so what you told me is alright."

Ron looked at him for a moment before speaking again. "Will you do me a favor?" Harry looked at him, a little surprised. "I've got a letter, for Ginny but I can't send it to her because they are watching everything I send to her. Will you give it to her when you see her?"

"How do you know I'll see her?"

Ron smiled, relieving a great deal of the tension in the room. "There are only two people away from Hogwarts that you would do something like this to save and you told me it wasn't my sister. So... that would leave your godfather, and you've been staying near our house so that must mean he is there too."

Ron wasn't so daft all of the time. "Alright, I'll give it to her."

Pulling a letter from his inner coat pocket he handed it to Harry. "Take care, and don't get caught."

Harry was surprised and thought it over as he found a quill and parchment and wrote out the letter to Sirius. Ron was treating him rather well and he sounded so sincere when he told him to be careful... Calling Paka he attached the letter and stroked his feathers. "Take this to father and wait there until he has a message to return to me." With a cry Paka took flight, swooping out the window into the early morning. Harry hope Sirius would understand the message.

Taking to the walls once again Harry left Hogwarts, this time without checking the map, he didn't want to be caught by some other surprise. When he neared the end of the passage he took out a chocolate and begrudgingly dropped it into his mouth, no one needed to see him outside the school.

The change was quick and when it was done he hurried out to the street. _"Hold up your wand above your head..."_ Sirius had told Harry about every form of transportation he could remember, the Knight Bus being the quickest if you didn't want to use Floo powder. When it did appear Harry almost fell back, it just seemed to appear out of thin air.

A friendly looking old man stepped off the bus and looked around for someone besides Harry, when he saw no one else present he looked down. "Ye be a wee bit young for ridin' der Knight Bus, aren't ye? Ye isn't running away from de folks are ye?"

Harry shook his head, he had planned everything... "No, I don't look my age at the moment. How do you think I got a wand and called the bus if I was a ten year old? I was at a party and somehow ended up like this, don't quiet remember at the moment."

The gentleman smiled. "Names Henry McDuffie, welcome to the Knight Bus, transportation to anywhere in de world. Where might you be going lad?"

Harry pulled money from his bag and handed it to Henry. "Ottery St. Catchpole."

"Ah... A fine little town that is Mr...."

"James Glass." Harry shook Henry's hand.

"And whereabouts' shall we drop you off Mr. Glass?"

"Just at the edge of town, I'll walk the rest of the way, I'll need it to clear my head." Perfect, it was all working out just right.

"Will do Mr. Glass." Henry led Harry to an empty bunk. "I'll wake you before we reach your stop, go ahead and get some rest, we've got a long ride ahead.

Harry looked at the house, he had been dropped off by the Knight Bus almost 20 minutes ago and now he was sitting across the street from the Weasley house. It was almost 8 AM only one light was on in the house so Harry just waited.

A sudden jolt woke him up, at some point he had fallen asleep sitting at the base of the willow tree. He heard someone approaching from somewhere but he kept his eyes closed. "You know Harry, laying about isn't going to prove Sirius's innocence."

Harry smiled, relieved, but still kept his eyes closed. "Yes, I know, but this spot is so very comfortable."

"No hello? Not at all surprised I am here?"

"Hello Virginia. How are you this cold winters day? You don't walk particularly quiet, I could here you coming before you even saw me. You don't seem particularly surprised to see me either-- are you?"

"I suppose that you've run away from school for a good reason."

"Indeed I have."

"And I suppose it has something to do with the letter that you sent to Sirius."

Harry finally opened his eyes, utterly shocked. "And how do you know about that?"

He saw her smile slyly. "I have a reply to it, though it doesn't make much sense to me. Sirius told me you would probably show up today."

"Why did Sirius send you the reply?" Harry asked, confused.

"He sent a note to me explaining everything. He said that Paka didn't know where to go, so he wrote me and said that you would probably show up sometime today."

Harry hopped to his feet. "Let's see it. Oh, and I have a letter for you too, from Ron."

"Ron knows you left school?" Virginia gasped.

"Well, uh... technically I haven't left school. I'm still there right now."

"You haven't left, does that mean there are two of you?" Virginia asked, somewhat puzzled .

Harry nodded and smiled. "No more questions about that right now. I'm a little hungry, do you think you might be able to nick some food for me?"

"Do you have one of those chocolates that make you look different?" Harry nodded. "Alright, I can get you more than a little food then. I'll take you home for lunch and maybe dinner."

Harry took one of the random glamour chocolates into his mouth. Virginia smiled. "That's much better, your hair was getting much too long, you almost looked as though you lived on the streets. Now let's go, mum will love to meet any friends I ever bring home. What should I introduce you as?"

Harry thought for a moment. "Uh... Jonathan."

Virginia pulled out a parchment and handed it to Harry. "Here, this is what Sirius wanted you to have."

Harry accepted it then pulled Ron's letter from his pocket and handed it to Virginia. He read Sirius letter. Though it was a little confusing to anyone one else it was very straightforward to Harry. Stay – Sirius would come. That was all it said, the rest was just confusing sentences. Virginia was happy with whatever her letter from Ron had said, it must have meant a lot to her, she was even happier than she had been when she said hello to Harry.

"Well, let's go." Virginia pulled Harry towards her house.

Mrs. Weasley appeared as they neared the front door. "Sad news Virginia, your brother had to leave for his studies, he's gone now. That also means we have an extra plate for lunch, would your friend like to join us?"

Virginia smiled brightly. "Yeah mum, do you think he could stay for dinner too, his grandparents had to go do something without him."

"Alright, I don't see any problem with that. Tell me, what's your name dear, I've not seen you before."

Harry started to say something while at the same time searching for some sort of an identity. Virginia seemed to have already thought of everything though. "He's visiting his grandfather for a few weeks. I've played with him a few times when he was just visiting for a day. His grandfather seemed alright with him visiting for dinner and maybe even staying the night, that is if it's alright with you."

Mrs. Weasley looked between Virginia and Harry. "Your grandfather was ok with it?" Harry nodded. "Alright, he can stay... In Ron's room. If he does spend the night, it'll not be in your room."

"Mum!!!" Virginia turned bright red.

Harry looked at Virginia and then to Mrs. Weasley, he didn't know what was wrong. Why did it matter where he slept? He didn't need a bed, he had slept nearly everywhere from caves to trees, sleeping on the floor wasn't a big deal, he didn't need a bed to sleep in a bed. Well, whatever she thought was necessary.

Harry smiled brightly. "Ok Mrs. Weasley, I can sleep n his room if you want." He wasn't sure exactly why but he tried to seem as innocent as possible.

"Go and wash-up so we can have some lunch."

Mrs. Weasley was the nicest mother Harry had ever met, she was always out of the way and attentive when she needed to be. Harry had brief moments when he imagined that his mother might be just like Mrs. Weasley. She allowed Harry and Virginia to run around the house and have a pillow fight and didn't say one word, Harry could have sworn she even would have played too, but she was busy doing other things.

Dinner was small but filling and very good. Virginia's father returned late, an hour after dinner was finished. He groaned about a headache he just couldn't seem to magic away, that he had been working the work of two people writing Auror procedures and testing illnesses. Virginia waited until he sat down for a few minutes before dragging Harry in.

"Dad, meet my new friend, Jonathan. Jonathan, my dad."

Mr. Weasley smiled and nodded his head politely. "Hello Jonathan, it's nice to meet a friend of Ginny's, she's not had a close one in quite some time. Are you new around here?"

Harry shook his head and let Virginia explain his story again. Mr. Weasley listened and then turned to Harry when she was finished. "How long will you he here then?"

Harry wasn't sure, no more than a few days- it really depended on Sirius, so he shrugged his shoulders. "Don't really know."

"You don't talk much do you?"

Harry smiled, he didn't feel like talking much right now, his head was swimming with thoughts of the future. "There isn't much to be said."

Mr. Weasley studied him for a long time before saying anything. "You seam to be much older than you look. Who taught you to act in such a way, your father?"

Harry shook his head gently. "No, a close friend. He's been with me since I was you and taught me much of what I know." Harry watched as Mr. Weasley studied him again.

"Well you sound much more mature than you should be. Maybe it's me but I think that you should be a kid, have fun while you can still be a kid."

Harry didn't want to be a kid it would mean that he would have to let his guard down, be normal and he didn't like being like others. Maybe just once in the while it was fun but he didn't want it to be what he was. "I like the way I am, I don't mean to be rude at all but I don't want to be a child."

"Oh, no offense taken at all, and I didn't mean to offend you at all, I am sorry to even mention it. Now, I've got to get to bed, I've an early wake up call. Goodnight everyone." He stood and left the room.

Mrs. Weasley took he and Virginia to bed leaving Harry to think about what he was doing to tell Sirius when he came. That he was supposed to die in 4 days? And that the rat, Peter Pettigrew, would be the one to do it. He didn't feel like sleeping and so he just laid, staring at the wall, thinking until early morning when he went onto the balcony to watch the sunrise.

Mrs. Weasley found him asleep on the balcony late in the morning. "Wake up Jonathan dear, your grandfather is wondering why you are so late to breakfast." Harry barely heard the words but as they settled into his head he sat up sharply.

"My Grandfather?" He gulped, unsure what to think. As far as he knew it was only Virginia that knew anything of the story they had supplied.

"Yes dear, now hurry and wash-up then get down stairs." She turned with a smile and went downstairs.

Harry hurriedly washed up— who was this stranger that claimed to be his grandfather? He hurried down the top flights of stairs and slowed as he descended the last. Was it Sirius? Could it be? As normal as he could muster he walked into the dining room. An older man sat watched him walk in and studied him for a minute. Harry studied him as well, his hair short and balding, filled with grey. His teeth aged and crooked. Harry stared right into his eyes and this man, who was supposedly his grandfather, winked – twice.

Harry heaved a silent sigh of relief. It was Sirius, somehow he knew the little cover story that Virginia had told everyone. "Hello grandfather, I didn't know you would come so early."

Sirius smiled, almost too slyly for an old man. "Your grandfather is full of surprises and always seems to have a few tricks up his sleeve."

Virginia was biting quietly further down the table not making eye contact with anyone but Harry noticed a smile spread across her face when Sirius spoke.

The rest of the conversation was mostly questions Mrs. Weasley asked about Harry and Sirius's life. Everything was basically the truth accept the mention of who they played the parts on and why they were moving about so much. After breakfast Mrs. Weasley excused herself while Sirius, Harry and Virginia went outside. As soon as they were out of view of the house Sirius let up his happy demeanor immediately.

"Harry, what are you doing here? What was so important that you had to leave school and see me?"

"You living?"

"Harry, I don't plan on dying anytime soon." Sirius looked a little disturbed.

This was the point. Well, it was best to get the truth out and worry about the consequences later. "But you will die, in three days... It already happened for me, on Thursday evening you were burned to death in a fire. I found a time turner and came back to make sure it wouldn't happen, I couldn't let you die."

Sirius stepped away from Harry. "You traveled in time?" Harry nodded, getting a little defensive.

Sirius shook his head. "How could you do that? Time travel is very, very serious business, Azkaban serious. Why would you do something like that? I cant believe..." Sirius closed his eyes and quieted for a minute. Virginia just stared at Harry, unsure at what exactly was going to happen. "I'm sorry, what's done is done, lets just make sure I don't get killed, if we have to deal with the time travel problems will do it when it comes up."

Harry nodded, somewhat relieved, that was the closest Harry had ever seen Sirius get to getting real angry at him. Slowly he recounted the tale, of Birdie and Peter, the Veritaserum, him waking up in the hospital and finding out everything that had happened.

Sirius listened quietly, nodding and thinking about everything that Harry had said. "I burned to death in a fire Peter started? Will, it certainly isn't the most pleasant way to go is it? At least I didn't feel it." Harry was relieved Sirius took it so well, he was always one to make a joke of anything. "Yes, well let's see that it doesn't happen this time around."

"You know, it's a good thing I knew were you would go, I think Paka didn't know what to do with two of you in different places."

"How did you know Sirius?"

"Well, Harry, I've known you all your life, and you don't think you could get away with anything do you? You're the most predictable person I've ever met, aside from James. :

Harry didn't feel so good about that. "Am I really predictable? How could you say that, given that I've just traveled back in time to save you."

Sirius found a spot to sit.  
given that I did die you had to figure out a way to save me. Your only two option would be either to stop it from happening or raise me from the dead, and, given that necromancy is the most difficult magic that exists I don't see you doing that. That eaves you with stopping it from happening altogether and the only real possibility you know of that was at all feasible would be time travel – So, it wsa really quiet predictable that you at least try it, your chances of succeeding weren't good, but you did it. Coming here was much easier to predict given that I knew enough of the facts to make the guess as to were you would go."

Harry felt crestfallen. "But Sirius, if I'm predictable it means I am weak."

"You know Harry, it's only a weakness if you allow others to use it. Besides, they have to know all the relevant facts to know what you will do. And one thing you were always good at was keeping secrets from others, even me."

Harry smiled, feeling much better. "Still am."

Sirius laughed, stood again and then put his arm around Harry and Virginia. "I'll leave you two alone while I find some proper housing while we are here. Virginia happily agreed but Harry was reluctant to let him go. He disappeared behind a tree, leaving a trail of paw print behind so Harry followed Virginia.

"I want to show you something I found. Bill told me what it was and I want to show it to you."

• Edited 2004.09.18 •


	11. Fate Unfolding

Chapter 11

• Fate Unfolding •

_"I want to show you something I found. Bill told me what it was and I want to show it to you."_

Harry was being dragged through the forest by Virginia, unsure what he was going to see. Eventually she slowed down "Here it is. It's amazing isn't it."

Harry looked around there wasn't much here. It took him a while to see exactly what she was talking about. "It's flowers..." Harry shook his head, wondering what was so special about it. "growing in a circle."

"Harry!..." Virginia shoved Harry softly. "You're not being serious, it's more than just flowers in a circle – it's a bonding circle."

Harry didn't have the slightest clue what a bonding circle was. "A what?"

Virginia's face flushed for a moment. "A bonding circle is where Faeries mate—" Her face flushed even darker. "But it's used for other magic as well."

Harry looked down at the circle again, still confused. "So why do you want me to see this?"

"It's not that I want you to see it, I want to be friend forever." Virginia pulled something small from her pocket.

Harry, even more confused now almost gave up understanding her, she was so different from every other girl he had ever met and always had something to surprise him with. "And how is this going to help us be friend forever?"

Virginia smiled, her face no longer red. "Here, in this circle, we can magically bind ourselves as friends, like a magical promise."

"But you can't do magic, you're too young too..." Harry realized what he was saying before he finished. "Not that you couldn't do it, it's just that kids don't know magic... in most cases."

Virginia seemed a little annoyed at what he had said. "You learned magic so I could too. I borrowed one of mums secret magic books she hides in her room and I memorized a friendship spell, one you can only do in a bonding circle. You want to try it?"

Harry didn't mind, besides Virginia had never performed magic before so it most likely wouldn't cause anything to happen. "Alright, I'll try it."

Virginia grinned widely. "Ok, it's really simple." The object she had pulled from her pocket appeared, a needle. She pricked herself with it and drew blood. He really didn't like cutting himself open.

"Uh Virginia, I don't know about..."

She took his hand and covered it with her hands. "It's only a little pinprick. Hold out your hand for a minute."

Harry opened up his hand and let her flip it over. "Alright."

It was over before he felt it, Virginia pricked him in the palm right were she had pricked herself. Harry winced and quivered but knew it was already over. Virginia drew her hand back. "Now step into the circle – just across from me."

Harry followed her instruction, avoiding the flowers. He stood just across from her. "Ok."

"Put your hands against mine and hold still, I'll do everything else."

Harry held his hands to Virginia's, his palm that was bloody pressed against hers. Virginia started murmuring something and the aid seemed to suddenly chilled. Harry stared at Virginia as she started to speak.

_"Nos ascion sponte alter .. alter sicut unanimis nos existo quisque sui necnon sui. Nos mutatus, nos existo singuli."_ Harry had heard part of it, read some of it but he couldn't make out the meaning exactly. We do something and then we become different... Harry didn't know exactly what they were doing or what it meant to become different.

He felt a sudden rush of magic and forgot everything else. The magic heated his skin and chilled his bones, whatever she was doing she was doing something right. Harry felt it slowly move through him from everywhere to his hands and then from his hands back to his whole body. All he could here was Virginia repeating the same words over and over again. _Nos existo singuli._ As she quit talking the feeling went away but something was wrong, everything felt wrong... no, different.

"Harry!" The sudden loudness, and the difference in his voice startled him, he looked up. "It's so different, your eyes... how could you see like this, I think I could see a tree as it grew." Virginia blinked. "How can you be so quiet? Can't you feel the difference, the part of you that's me?"

Harry didn't understand what she was saying "What?"

"And your hearing... it's so... sharp. How could you hear like this, is it magic?"

"Virginia— I don't understand."

"Nos existo singuli... it means 'we are one' the spell transfers part of you to me and part of me to you."

Harry coughed, almost choked. If Sirius found out what he had just done he would sure get angry. "So you have my hearing and my sight. I'll tell you why they're like that if you never tell anyone about what we did – no one, understand? And you have to help me understand everything the spell does to you and me."

Virginia seemed to get happier and happier. "Ok, I won't tell anyone, promise."

"I sort of got them when I became an animagus." Harry remembered back then, he couldn't see very well into; then, and after he became on he could see perfectly, better then perfect in fact. Everything had been better, sharper than it had ever been before.

"You're an animagus?!" Virginia squealed, a little loud for Harry. "What are you? Show me."

Harry reluctantly changed standing still while Virginia examined him. "It's so cute, what is it? You look sort of like a big kitty." She reached out and rubbed behind Harry's ears. Harry leapt backwards, surprised at her touch. He changed back to his normal self.

"What was that for?"

"I thought you might like it. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"You didn't hurt me, you just... surprised me. So what do you think... about my form?"

"It's brilliant, Do you think that I might be able to do it? After all you are a part of me now."

Harry wasn't sure, she might be able to but it was dangerous. "I don't know Virginia, maybe, but it is very dangerous, you have to be very careful if you try it. Don't think about anything, just sort of let yourself slip away and be an animal, let yourself be whatever you become. You can't fight it or it will never work."

Virginia closed her eyes, whispering to herself. Her form started to quiver and Harry stepped back. She was able to do what had taken him much, much more time something of Harry's animagus form had transferred to her. Harry wondered how much, if she would be able to take this step. To finish this, the third step it had taken him six days just to transform and months after to finish the next, to make it a natural transformation, not forced.

"You're doing it Virginia, you're so close, just a little bit further." Virginia seemed to smile but it was difficult to tell with her form quivering like it was. Harry watched but her from didn't change, her form slowly solidified again. Harry heaved a sigh of relief and sadness, he had to work terribly hard to do what he did and to see someone do it so easily... but then again while it had taken Harry a week it had taken Sirius over a month. For Virginia too do it right away was both terrifying and awesome, she was so close.

"It didn't work Harry, I couldn't do it." Virginia looked as though she were about to cry. "Harry I felt it but I couldn't change. I tried, I really did."

Harry tried to console her as Sirius had done to him. "Virginia, it's ok, really. I tired over and over until I did it. It took me a dozen times to get as far as you have already."

"Alright, could we do it again sometime soon?" The frown slowly turned into a grin. "Do 'ya think that I could do that other stuff you can do too?"

Harry didn't really want to find out that she could, he had spent a lot of time learning and understanding the spells, if Virginia could do them now it would be terrible, she wouldn't understand what she was doing. "I don't know, but I don't want you to even try them because it is too dangerous if you don't understand the spells. Understand?" Harry gave Virginia the most dead – serious look he could muster, for some reason it seemed difficult to be so serious suddenly, like it wasn't normal even though Harry did it all the time.

Harry heard someone approaching and he turned to meet them. Just near the edge of the tree line Sirius was approaching. Harry noticed Virginia also hear and smiled as he got closer.

"Harry, I've found a place to stay for a few days." Sirius looked at the two who were smiling mischievously. "What have you two been doing while I was gone."

"Just playing." Harry and Virginia answered simultaneously.

Sirius eyed Harry for a minute. "Alright, as long as you two didn't do anything foolish."

Harry fought to show any signs that might give away he had done something foolish. Sirius seemed to accept the answer for the time being and let it drop without question.

The place he had found for them to stay was small, with a wooden floor and some soft hey to sleep in. Harry didn't mind it at all, hey felt at home once he laid down and started talking to Sirius. Sirius had been working on finding proof of his innocence. Harry told Sirius the things that had happened at school, the teachers and pranks, friends and enemies. Sirius was happy to hear about those he knew and was especially interested in Ender though he said nothing about him.

•

_"Harry..." A faint voice echoed in Harry's head. He looked around but couldn't quite figure out where it was coming form, everything around him was foggy._

_"Harry, listen to me, let me show you what it was like for me, you have to understand."_

_Slowly the fog dissipated and Harry saw a cramped room in front of him, a very minimalist room, several beds, each with a small set of drawers. A woman in black was speaking to a child. _

_"Listen you, I can't give you that information he left you here because he couldn't handle you and if he wanted you back then he would have come and taken you."_

_The child was crying. "I want to know who my daddy is."_

_Off in the background Harry could here some kids laughing. "Tiny Tommy the Magician wants to know who his papa is."_

_The woman quieted them, she looked like a nun when she turned, was this some sort of orphanage? "I am sorry Tom I can't help you, you know the rules. You cannot see those things."_

_"I'll curse you." Tom whimpered as if he knew what was coming before it did._

_The nun slapped him, extremely hard. "You know you shouldn't speak of magic in the house of the lord, it's blasphemy. Now, you shan't receive dinner tonight because you speak of such thing, you know that to say such things is against the rules. You are not a sorcerer or magician, they don't exist."_

_The scene faded away. "I was treated like an outcast because strange things happened around me, magic. No one could ever explain why, but they happened. I always knew, somewhere deep inside me. That night I found out who my father was, his folder somehow appeared when I woke up in the middle of the night. So, I snuck away, and went home."_

_Another scene faded in. A huge house, looking almost ghastly from the outside, appeared, the little boy stood at the door. A woman appeared. She looked around for a minute as if looking for an adult, finally she spoke to the boy. "What can I help you with deary?"_

_Tom cleared his throat and tried to speak clearly but his voice was shaking. "I'm looking for my papa." He handed the lady the folder and she looked at it for only a moment before gasping and disappearing behind the door. The scene faded out._

_"He wouldn't see me, didn't want to talk to me. I could here what he said, that I was a reject, not worthy of him just like my mother. They wanted me to go back and so they sent out someone to get the nuns but I didn't want to go back. I ran away. I lived on the street for two years before they found me again, I learned more there than I had anywhere else."_

_Harry felt sorry for the child, it looked like his life was really difficult. His soothing voice made it seem as though he were trying to coerce Harry into something._

"Harry!!!" The voice was gone, Harry sat up fast, almost striking Virginia who was standing in above him.

"Why do you have to sleep so long? Sirius said that you must have been exhausted from the trip and that he was surprised you hadn't done it earlier."

"What do you mean? How long did I sleep?" Harry already felt discontent because of the dream, everything had felt so... real.

"You slept all of yesterday, it's Thursday."

Harry's mind cleared and he looked at her. "Thursday? Where's Sirius?"

Virginia shook her head. "Don't know, I've not seen him since yesterday, he said he had some business to take care of and disappeared. He told me not to wake you, that you needed the rest. I had nothing to do all day... but I think I can transform now."

Harry let everything sink in before talking to her. "You didn't let Sirius see you trying to transform did you, you made sure he was gone?"

Virginia nodded. "I didn't do it where anyone could see me, I went to my secret place. No one knows where it is."

Harry had a sudden visualization. "An old wooden room, with dark green carpeting and a... smell of roses. It's hidden under the..."

The smile on Virginia's face turned to a look of surprise. "How did you know? I've never told anyone."

"Don't know for sure, as soon as you said it I recalled seeing it from somewhere. Everything, the table in the corner and the worn sofa, like I was there only yesterday."

"If you remember it you must have received it from the enchantment and if you did then I might be able to see your memories too."

Harry didn't know if her remembering such things was for the best. But before he could think more about it she drew his attention back to the situation with Sirius. "What shall we do about Sirius, it's getting late in the afternoon."

Harry knew what Sirius was doing, he was going to confront Peter and try, somehow to get him to confess. He also knew Sirius would suppose he had everything figured out, planned ahead but he wouldn't, something could always go wrong that he hadn't thought about. "Grab my cloak, we must go and make sure everything is alright."

The invisibility cloak was snatched by Virginia. "Alright Harry, but how are we going to..."

Harry took the cloak and wrapped it around both of them. Virginia gasped. "Quiet, we cannot make any noise at all when we get close, I don't want anyone to spy us."

Virginal nodded and they made there way to the cabin as quickly as possible. Harry could feel someone's presence, someone other than Sirius was there, you don't live in a home for four years and not know what was happening in your own house. "I've got to go inside, stay out here and don't let anyone see you. If anything happens to us you know what to do."

Virginia slipped under the cloak and whispered. "Yeah, I know what to do. Harry... be careful." She slipped behind a tree and was gone. Harry turned back to the house, slipping to the front door which was open a crack. He listened to what was going on inside.

"Murdock... I don't understand, why don't you leave before you get hurt. You're not involved in this matter." It was Sirius speaking.

"But Sirius, Stunning Sirius, that's what they called you wasn't it? Yes, well Mr. Stunning, you've not talked with me in years, it's as though we've grown apart. Can't we be friends again?" This person, Harry supposed it was Murdock seemed overly sarcastic. "You don't understand, it really is a matter that involves me. You see, while you became Gryffindor and were the brave of the bunch you treated me as an outcast because I became a Slytherin. You had friends that helped you, made sure you never got into trouble, while I... I was as much an outcast in my own house as I was everywhere else. No matter what sort of pranks I pulled or magic spells and hexes I helped with, I never received any recognition. You see, this has everything to do with me, I will be the one to bring you to my lord, I will prove that fraud is nothing more than worthless words. You see, I want to receive a blessing from my lord, become a noble in his order." His sarcasm was lost to delirium.

It was a long moment before Harry heard Sirius reply and when he did his voice sounded both angry and afraid. "You're one of them... I'd have never thought, even if you were a Slytherin... you never had to join the Dark Lord."

"I didn't have to? What, do you suppose that because we are alike physically that I would grow up and be like you? You're considered evil by most of the wizardry populous and those that know the truth only do because they are dark wizards themselves. I had to deal with the real world, deal with being turned away on every path I took, only the Dark Lord accepted me as I was... He would accept you too Sirius, make you powerful and clear your name, if only you asked, asked for his help. But you wouldn't do that Mr. Stunning Gryffindor, a good Gryffindor would never do something like that."

"I... How could you do this to me? How could you ever think I might even think of accepting him after what he did to James." Harry could tell Sirius was preparing to do something, his voice grew resolute and firm, seemed to gain strength as he spoke. "If I could get near him I would sacrifice myself to rid the world of him."

"Yes... always the good Gryffindor. You all are like that, well most of you. Peter was easy to bring astray, so weak and easy to form I was almost disappointed that my task was so easy to find someone to betray the Potters. He has his problems though, he seems to have an addiction to power, he craves it. I'll rid myself of that mistake soon enough, but you first, I should have done this personally long ago."

Harry gently pressed the door open and slipped inside, unnoticed by the two who were arguing between each other. When he saw the two there he almost gave himself away, they stood eye to eye, both with identical body size and dark black hair. If Harry didn't know that Sirius no longer had any relatives living he might have supposed him to be a twin, perhaps that was Murdock had meant earlier when he had said they were alike, they were identical. One turned, glancing about as if he was afraid someone might be there. His eyes were different, they were a dull, icy green color and it was the only difference that Harry could see.

"Just because you are a Death Eater doesn't mean you'll beat me Murdock."

"You were always more adept at duels and fights, I'll give you that. I always seemed to get the bad end of the deal, with that potion you made that caused me to look like... this." He emphasized the last words and gestured to himself. "Maybe had I known what I was getting into it wouldn't have happened, and if you knew what you were getting into now you would just give yourself up without a fight. I have received power from my lord, I am more powerful than you could ever dream of."

Sirius sprung up, knocking Murdock to the ground and rolled on the floor, struggling to his wand, which Murdock had a hold of. Harry was about to stun one but was soon confused to which one he was pointing at, both wore alike robes and while they rolled about there eyes were not visible. Finally one stood, they had separated themselves. "Sirius."

Harry called for him, both of them turned their heads. Harry's wand centered upon the green eyes. _"Quiesco."_

Murdock dropped to the ground, unconscious. Sirius looked about frantically. "Harry, Harry... where are you?" Harry pulled the cloak from his face to a wide-eyed Sirius. "Your father's cloak, you found it."

A noise outside quieted him before he could say anything more. Sirius looked down at the unconscious Murdock. "Harry, you need to cover him and be quiet... Here, take this." Sirius handed Harry one of the wands he was holding. Harry pulled the cloak over himself and Murdock then readied himself for whoever came next.

Peter was the next person Harry saw, prancing in the door as if he owned the place. The door swung open and Harry closed his eyes, several others followed behind, Peter obviously the one in charge. "Ah... Sirius, you returned. I was really hoping you would. I've had this place monitored by trusted associates since I found it." Sirius's eyes moved quickly sizing up his options.

"Now come quietly and I'll make it painless, as you can see there aren't any other options right now."

"There are always options Peter, though, they are a bit limited at the moment."

Peter grinned. "You'll never change Sirius, always so casual, well we can change that quickly."

Sirius, realizing the true bleakness of the situation, had a sudden change of heart. "You win, but only if you give me your word you'll never let Harry be harmed."

There was a long pause and the room seemed to tense up, the six other Death Eaters who were presently in the room looked strangely at Peter. Peter finally made some sort of decision in his head. "Well, he's not doing well right now as it is, seems he has an undesirable reaction too Veritaserum, it seemed... painful for him. It was lucky you showed up when you did, had they not got him to the infirmary as quick as they did I think there might have been permanent damage. Besides, I couldn't promise you something like that, it would be disobeying my master and I don't want to do that."

"You're an evil ba...."

"An evil what Sirius? Bastard? What, can't you say it, it isn't as though you're a child anymore. I know you hate me Sirius, but I forgive you. My master has other ideas though, you have harbored Harry from his view for too long, you must pay the price."

Sirius spit on Peter's face. "Ah, you'll suffer for that as well, and for all the other impudent things you've done in the last few years. Everyone out!"

Sirius watched, somewhat scared, he seemed to be trying not to look at Harry. Peter petrified him and looked around. "Well, this will be an easy place to burn. You will soon feel the agony of burning to death but never be able to scream."

As he left the room Harry could here come commotion outside, he didn't know what to do, Peter couldn't see him here, but he couldn't just leave Sirius. The wall nearest the door burst into flames and Harry jumped back, scared. Peter wouldn't be coming back in, he was going to watch from the outside. Harry hoped no one was watching the rear, he would take the spell of Sirius and they could escape through the back.

After a moment he pulled himself from underneath the cloak and pointed his wand at Sirius to take the spell off of him. _"Vigoro."_

Nothing happened. _"Vigoro, vigoro, vigoro..." _Nothing happened.

The roof caught on fire. "Sirius, you have to get up, I can't drag you out, you weigh too much." Harry grabbed both arms and tried to pull him. "Sirius, please!!!"

One of the beams creaked and Harry looked up. It cracked and Harry yanked, the beam fell, barely missing Sirius. "I can't get you out Sirius, but there is no way I'll let you die again, I couldn't do that."

The back door opened up and Harry looked up, seeing someone he vaguely recognized, it was only another second before Harry felt something strike him in the back of the head.

•

He was somewhere familiar, somewhere he recognized somehow.

Harry opened his eyes, trying to identify what it was he was smelling, why this place felt so familiar. It was dark, wherever here was but he could still make out the room, small, made of stone, just a basic room. He was laying on an extremely comfortable bed. He tried to sit-up and quickly found it to be a mistake as his head started pounding.

"You're awake." Sirius stood at the top of some stairs looking happy. "Don't move too quickly, I couldn't finish healing you, had to take care of a couple things that came up."

Sirius walked down the stairs and then pulled out a wand. "I thought he took your wand."

"He did, but you had Murdock's." Sirius's face fell suddenly. Harry wondered why.

"Sirius, where is Murdock, is he ok... and how did we get out? I don't remember anything, I was trying to pull you and that was the last thing I remember." Sirius looked away from Harry and it only took a second to catch on too what had happened to Murdock. "He didn't make it..." Harry thought out loud.

"No, Bill didn't see him, your cloak was still covering him." Sirius's voice cracked and Harry ignored it, Sirius didn't cry, he just needed some time. "He was a good person, he didn't deserve what happened no matter what he was. I'll never doubt who he was."

"He was your friend then?" Harry remembered little bits of the conversation, and though some of it was confusing he had put part of it together.

"I... we were best friends until Hogwarts. He got sorted into Slytherin and got mixed up into some things that I didn't want to be involved in. We split apart and never saw eye to eye again. I think he started to hate me because that's what he saw in the mirror every time he looked."

Harry remembered the eerie similarity between them. "How old were you when it happened?"

"I had just turned seven, we were playing magic and he wanted to try something for real. My father had a potion mixed up for something, I knew it wasn't harmful so we used that. Murdock dropped his dragons necklace in there, I think that was what went wrong. After that somehow something of me got into it, Murdock wanted to try it so he did... and you saw what happened."

Harry knew he needed to draw his attention some how. "Bill who? How did he know we would be there."

Sirius took a breathe and looked back towards Harry. "Bill Weasley. He said that Ron sent him a letter that said that you would need his help. He also said we could trust him, that he knew all about everything. He saved us both, and Virginia. She ran in and tried to help, but I guess you got hit at the same time by a falling beam. Bill came just in time to save us all."

Harry remembered vaguely Virginia showing up, after that there was nothing. "Is she alright?"

Sirius nodded. "Yeah, she's in the infirmary right now getting healed, the smoke got her pretty bad."

"The infirmary... but that would mean that we are at..." suddenly the smells made sense, they were in the dungeon at Hogwarts. The potions classroom had to be near.

"Hogwarts, yes. It was the only place I knew I could keep you safe and hide at the same time."

Harry didn't understand, if he was at Hogwarts then he must have been out for a long time. "How long has it been Sirius?"

"Two days, it took me a while to get you and Virginia here even with Bill's help. I had to keep everything secret. Maybe if everything hadn't gone so wrong. I was just trying to get Peter to admit it, I was going to force it out of him in front of someone, someone that could testify to it, then Murdock showed up."

Harry knew it was time to get Sirius to think about something completely different. He tried to think, it was Sunday sometime. "Sirius, what time is it?"

"Late, I'm not sure, nearly dinner time."

Something clicked in Harry's head, he remember what was happening right now, the theft of the time turner and finding his cloak. There had been two people unlabeled by the map going through a passage to the Great Hall. "Come on Sirius... I want to show you something."

"What?"

"You'll see Sirius, let's go." Harry found the passage and pointed it out to Sirius. "Here, this is the one. I saw two dots on the Marauders Map that weren't labeled, I think they were us now. Why didn't it label you, it probably doesn't understand me, because there are two of me. But you, why doesn't it know who you are?"

Sirius slowed. "You remember what I told you about the map, that it can see anywhere we map? I always worried that Peter might get his hands on the map and try to find me with it, we had to go to Hogsmeade sometimes and I didn't want him to see me or you there so I cast a spell over us that hid us. I took it off you the night before you went to Hogwarts."

Harry was satisfied with that answer, but it raised another question. "Sirius, why didn't you ever tell me about that, I thought you had taught me all the spells you knew."

Sirius completely stopped walking and turned back to Harry. "I didn't need to teach you some things, you need to learn them on your own. I can't make life too easy on you." He turned and continued down the hallway while Harry followed, lost in thought.

If Sirius hadn't taught him everything what was he concealing, what did Harry have to learn on his own? Sirius slowed again and Harry looked up, they were above the hall, looking down on the tables from a mirror four yards in the air.

It was the perfect timing, the hall was full and several students started eating. It would be a few more minutes before any of the potions kicked in. "So what is going to happen?" Sirius wondered out loud while he stared down at all of the students, looking for something to catch his attention.

"A prank, your prank, the one that you always wished you had done."

Sirius took a short breath. "The flying Slytherins and confounded school prank?"

"Yeah, that's the one. I had to make sure that everyone was distracted when I got the Time Turner."

"You didn't do it yourself?"

"No, I gave the Weasley twins, I felt they were the best choice for the job. It seemed that it worked out pretty well."

Sirius smiled. "Well, we'll soon see, wont we."

Harry watched the hall, he located the twins, sitting near the end of the Gryffindor table, as far away from the front as possible in the darkest corner. They were whispering among themselves and pointing, just barely noticeably, towards the Slytherin table. No one seemed to be taking any notice of them accept for Dumbledore, he was casually watching them and smiling, Harry wondered if there was anyway that he could know... but there wasn't only 4 people knew about what was going to happen and they weren't talking.

Dumbledore stood, surprising Sirius who also seemed to notice him. "He doesn't know does he?"

Harry shook his head. "No, I hadn't told anyone accept who is was necessary to tell."

The first Slytherin began feeling the effects of the potions and yelled out something, his voice suddenly muted in the middle of a word. Another Slytherin felt himself lifted into the air and found he couldn't scream, that nothing came from his mouth. It only took less than two minutes for the Slytherins to all be feeling at least some effects of the potions. Several were already above Harry and Sirius, pressed up against the roof while others were running frantically around the room screaming without a voice.

Harry was watching the whole thing with amazement, it was extremely entertaining. The Gryffindors were the first ones who had caught on to what was happening and there whole table had started laughing uncontrollably, followed by the Ravenclaws and most of the Hufflepuffs. When there laughing changed, became inconsistent and annoying Harry laughed. Everyone had now fallen under the confounding spell. That was funny.

Harry located Dumbledore again, who was watching the hall calmly as it slowly turned into a complete disaster area, Teachers and students were moving about, trying to find someone they could communicate with, Sirius started laughing, hard. Harry turned to him. "Snape." Was all he could say under his breath.

Harry turned and tried to find Snape, it took a while but he was the only teacher still near the table, something seemed to be bothering him. He kept swinging, trying to knock something away from him. After a long time staring at Snape he finally could see what it was, dozens of little fairy's where flying around him with something in there hands, they kept flying towards Snape's head and then getting batted away.

Sirius started laughing and looked at Harry. "I don't ever remembering telling you about getting fairy's to attack Snape with soap."

He hadn't. "You didn't Sirius, this wasn't part of the plan at all."

"Then..." Sirius blinked and looked back, looking for someone. "He know." His eyes wandered around the hall two or three times but he couldn't find anything.

"Sirius, what are you talking about? Everyone thinks you are dead, even Peter."

Sirius shook his head. "No, he knows, he's out there waiting for me to make a mistake. He can smell me, I was worried he might be here and I took every precaution possible but he still knows I'm here. We have to leave before he finds where we were hidden."

"Who Sirius?"

"Moony."

• Edited 2004.09.18 •

_The direct translation of the spell that was said (or as direct as I can figure): We take up willingly the one... the other, just as if of one mind we become himself and also herself. We become different, we become one._


	12. You called me Ginny...

Chapter 12

• You called me Ginny... •

Moony. Why did Moony have to ruin it? Harry laid on his bed, the one he had left almost a week ago. Well, not really, it had only been a couple hours ago. All he had to do was wait until his past self went back and then slip back in the room and replace him, no one would know he ever left unless he told them.

Harry played with the watch in his hand; within the watch was real power, the power to change the past. Harry shivered involuntarily and got out of bed, he couldn't sleep tonight, and he had too much energy. Did Sirius go to the old house before he had changed the past? It was so strange, Sirius hadn't been living in the old shack, why did he go back the first time, and why at that time?

Harry soon found he wasn't alone when he entered the common room. Blaise was sitting there crying about something. She looked up when Harry entered, and wiped her eyes. "I'm sorry, did I wake you?"

Harry shook his head. "No, I've had trouble sleeping tonight anyway, it's alright. What's wrong, can I help?"

She took a deep breath and tried to let it out softly. "It's nothing really, not like your problems."

Harry smiled. "My problems are different, and I am not worried about them right now, you're the one crying."

"Alright... Today, today was my mother's birthday." She paused, searching for something to say. "You know, she once told me a story about you." Harry was a bit startled that she would bring him up, she seemed to avoiding the subject of herself completely.

She fidgeted again. "She knew your parents, before you were born. She said that your mother was the most wonderful person that she had ever met, and your father, even though he was a bit of a rogue was still a very good person. She even said that you were just like them, even when you were born."

"How did she know what I was like?" Harry knew his parents had known a lot of people, the few pictures Sirius had managed to obtain always were crowded with people.

"She was there, your mother was visiting her that day because she was getting sick and still pregnant with me. The medi-wizards didn't even know what she did, she knew all sort of spells that they didn't. It's why you and I were born the same day, the magic was too much strain on both our mothers. I was born a month early and you were born a week and a half early."

Wow, he didn't know that... Sirius had never told him, maybe he didn't know either. It was very interesting that Blaise knew more about himself than he did. He wondered how much more she knew, and what she might be willing to tell him.

"What sort of story did your Mum tell you, about me?"

Blaise smiled weekly. "On the day I was born another child was born. He had his mother's eyes and his fathers will. Both his parents were kind and strong, excellent wizards, well learned and at the same time good, caring people. When this child was born he gave off a sign, something that proved he was a great wizard, as great as any that had come before."

"What sort of sign?"

"This sign was so splendid, so noticeable that the whole hospital was obliviated to hide the fact that it ever happened, even his own parents would not remember. The sign, though powerful was also dangerous, it meant that others would seek him out, try and stop him from becoming everything he was destined to be."

"Then how did your mother know?"

"The charm performed to keep the sign a secret didn't work properly on my mother, because of the magic that was surrounding her at the time.... Anyway. This child, did a great thing and it was hidden away so that no one would know, so that no one would try and use him, control his powers." Blaise stopped talking.

"Do you know what sort of sign he... I showed?" Harry wanted to know what was so special about him, why he was so important to Voldemort.

"No, mum never spoke of what it was, only that it was something beautiful and inspiring to witness.

"Is that it, is that the entire story?"

"No... there is more. The boy, grew in a caring home, hidden away from the problems of the world. But while he grew and learned of magic, of the world a dark, dark wizard found out the truth of what had happened. Through coercion and manipulation of others he learned the truth of what happened that day."

"But who else knew?"

"She didn't say who, just that they did... The dark wizard, he-who-must-not-be-named was scared of the boy for reasons unknown, perhaps that one day he would fall to him so he plotted while the boy grew. He sent spies and tortured people to know the true power of the child. He was unable to find out anything that might show him the truth, as the child's parents were cautious and protected by powerful magic. This cause you-know-who to get angry and want the boy to die. Few know by what means he came or how he broke the spells that were cast for protection but the child and his parents were betrayed by a friend, the one who held their life in his hands, Peter Pettigrew."

"You knew?"

Blaise nodded. "Mum spoke as if she had seen it herself, as if she pitied Sirius for everything that happened following your parent's deaths. She never said how she knew but it she did know beyond a doubt that Sirius was innocent."

"So what comes next?" Harry wanted to know what happened, why the dark lord had been unable to defeat him, Blaise's mother seemed to know so much, maybe she knew this too.

"He came on all hallows eve, the night when his strength was at his peak. Once again, at the direst moment of need the child showed his true powers and stopped the Dark Lord, stripping him of his powers and of his life, leaving him as only a shell of existence, something that has no life but still lives. That night the last hope of the child appeared and took him away, raising him as his own that he may grow to be a good man and that one day, if needed he would be able to stop evil again."

A bright smile covered her face. "And now you're here, safe at Hogwarts. Someday you'll find out what your power is– and learn how to use it."

"That's it?" Well, that certainly was a tall tale, but maybe it wasn't. There was so much he didn't know, about himself, about his parents, maybe it had more truth to it than he thought.

"The rest is still waiting to be told, the story doesn't end until it ends. Mum told me that there would be much to be told and that maybe, someday I could tell the story to my children."

"Is it even true?"

"Does it matter? You're special whether it is true or not, you had to have stopped he-who-must-not-be-named somehow."

That was the truth, Sirius had never been able to answer his questions about that, he simply didn't know. "I presume, but no one really knows what happened, I was too young to remember. Well, there is one person, but I doubt if he'd ever tell me."

Blaise lay back on the couch, closing her eyes that no longer were wet, just red from the tears. "You might get a chance to ask him someday, you never know."

"So, Blaise, why were you crying?"

"I told you it was mum's birthday today, but she died two years ago. It was a horrible accident while we were visiting my uncle. We were exploring muggle London and something violent happened, somehow we were caught in the middle and she was shot by something called a gun. Some muggles called doctors but they couldn't get to us fast enough, mum died before anyone could help her."

Harry straightened up, walked slowly down the steps, and sat down next to here. "I'm sorry." It would have been unbearable to remember his parent's and watch them die, especially in that way, a product of some violent muggle conflict.

"It's alright, no one really knows what happened, and I don't tell anyone either, except for you. I spend one day remembering her, she wouldn't have wanted anymore than that. I like to keep my life private, you won't tell anyone else will you? I don't like people to know I cry."

"Alright, I won't tell anyone if you don't want me too. But you know, crying, it isn't all that bad. I cry once in a while."

"When? Harry, be real, you're the sort of person that never cries, no matter what happens. I didn't see you cry once after it happened, and when the twins brought you back in the shape you were, half conscious, it sure must have hurt but you didn't cry at all."

"I cried that night, before they found me, after that I couldn't cry any more."

"Any other times?"

Harry thought back, trying to remember the saddest things in his life, trying to find anytime he had cried. "I don't remember... sometimes."

"You don't remember because you don't cry. I try not too, it's just mum, she's all I had and... I really miss her, I bet you miss you parents too."

Harry thought about it for a few minutes before responding. "I do miss them, I really wish I had known them, even a little, it would have been worth it to know who they were and not loose them before I could remember. What do you remember about your mom or dad?"

"My dad died before I could remember, when I was really young. But mum tried to make everything work, even without him, she always made sure I had everything I needed. At night she would tell me a story and thing sing me to sleep, she better than the Unicorn Undertones." Harry smiled, he had heard them before, and they sounded wonderful. "She worked at home so that I had her nearby. Sometimes, when she had enough time we would go on a vacation and pretend that we were wealthy, have fun doing whatever we wanted."

Harry recalled how hard it was for him sometimes, everything about life seemed to get worse and worse.

"She called me her little pixie, I guess I was a little to rowdy for her a lot of the time. I didn't know or I would have been better."

"We were all like that, we all make it hard for them while we grew up."

"Where you?" The question struck a nerve, Harry couldn't recall a single instance when he had done something against what Sirius had asked, unless it was something that was necessary for their protection. "Uh.... I grew up a little different than most kids."

"I know, but how come other kids aren't like you? You are so much more like my uncle than a kid. I wish I were like you, you can stand up against anything. I bet if you-know-who ever showed up you would stand up against him." Blaise leaned up against Harry and closed her eyes. "Just don't tell anyone about me crying ok? I don't want anyone to know."

"Alright Blaise, I wont say anything to anyone, I promise."

"Good..." Blaise seemed to quiet down, just leaning against Harry for a while. Harry, feeling a bit uncomfortable whispered her name but didn't get an answer, he listened for another few minutes before deciding that she had fallen asleep. Carefully he pulled himself out from under her and laid her out on the couch, summoning a blanket to cover her with. Harry looked at her and felt the sudden urge to cry, he restrained himself, but thought it unusual, he rarely if ever had the urge to cry.

•

Harry spent several days without Sirius, he just took off, leaving Hogwarts because of Remus. Remus didn't appear either, he was around, Harry could see him roaming on the map but no matter how fast he got too the location somehow Remus disappeared completely.

Virginia was in the hospital until the following weekend, and was not allowed visitors. Harry wondered why, she had only had problems with breathing, according to Sirius. When he finally was able to go and see her the first person he ran into was Ron.

"You sent Bill to save us?"

Ron nodded. "I had a sudden fear that Ginny would get involved, and then that something would go wrong. Mum wouldn't know what to do, wouldn't know where to go so I sent him a letter that said you and Ginny would need some help. He almost didn't make it did he?"

"I... I don't remember I got struck by something and the next thing I remember I was here."

Ron looked straight at Harry. "Did you let Ginny go in there when you knew it could get dangerous?"

Harry shook his head. "I told her that if anything happened to go get help and not too come in."

"Alright."

And that was it, he just walked away, leaving Harry to see Virginia. Harry watched him go, was this that point, that point where a bond had been made? Ron had after all saved his life and Sirius's he would never treat him the same, there would always be some trust there.

"Harry?"

Harry turned towards the voice, near the back of the infirmary. "Virginia?"

"Harry, you came. I'm sorry... I didn't mean to go in I just didn't know what to do. I know I was supposed to get help but it was on fire and I knew something had happened, if I had gone to get help you would have died."

"It's alright Virginia, it's alright, everything turned out ok didn't it?"

She nodded as Harry approached. "I suppose, but I wouldn't have broken several bones if I hadn't run inside."

"YOU WHAT?!" she'd hurt herself, and probably pretty bad... but Sirius had said she had gotten sick from the smoke. Sirius... Harry was going to have his piece with him soon enough. "Sorry, I didn't know that."

"I think they told you so you wouldn't come and see me, they didn't want you interfering while I got fixed. It hurt and I wanted you here but they said that you might make things worse."

"I'm sorry I wasn't here, I should have come."

"You were, sort of, I could feel you here like you were holding my hand especially when it hurt a lot."

"You mean..." It was strange to think about something like that, he having a part of him in her.

"Yes, I do believe you were there in some form, I had wondered about that when I first came to young Ms. Weasley." Dumbledore appeared from the shadows of the door, startling Harry. "Something was very odd about the way that she acted while Poppy was working on her. I was having problems adding it up."

Harry cringed, there was something about Dumbledore, he always seemed to know everything. Lately Harry had been carefully avoiding Dumbledore, he didn't want to talk with him at all. The watch was back but the key and the cloak were still missing from his office.

"You know Harry, I've been getting the distinct impressions that you've been avoiding me lately. Is there something that I should know about, anything out of the norm?"

"Uh... what do you mean?" Play dumb, it is better to find out what Dumbledore knew than let things slip that he might not know.

"It seems that there were some items that disappeared from my office recently, though one of them reappeared quite recently. I've also been told that, Merlin willing, Sirius might have avoided his death altogether. Young Ginny here is also a bit of a conundrum, not that we mind having her here, given the rising costs of medical costs and the extent of her injuries I can see why her parents thought it best she be treated here. But that still leaves me to wonder how she might have broken so many bones and gotten burned so badly. I was aware of only one fire near her home recently."

Well what didn't he know? "Alright." Harry sighed. "This is what happened."

Dumbledore listened and nodded, asking questions occasionally while Harry recounted the events that had transpired.

"And Mrs. Weasley didn't recognize either you or Sirius?"

Harry explained the glamour chocolates and Dumbledore chuckled saying something about Sirius and James and then let Harry continue. Harry told him everything, even the secret that he and Virginia now shared– leaving out any mention of his animagus abilities. "And when I woke back up here. Bill had come and saved us, but he didn't see Murdock because he was under the invisibility cloak."

So you've traveled in time, a dangerous and punishable crime, then you caused both yourself, and others harm. On top of that you lost, to a fire, one of your fathers most prized possessions..." Harry nodded glumly. "I believe your father would have done as much, if not more to keep Sirius alive."

Harry smiled, that was a relief to hear. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about everything, I just had to make sure Sirius stayed alive and I didn't know what you would think of me taking the watch and going back. I couldn't let him die, he's all I have."

"It's alright Harry, I was a little surprised when it disappeared, I keep careful track of it. But you see, you've succeeded in more than one way in doing something dangerously powerful, the past was changed but it wasn't everything is the same isn't it?"

Harry thought about it... no one knew he had left, accept for the few people that had participated, the house had burned and Sirius had supposedly died, everything was the same was the same as before, or so it seemed. "I suppose so."

"Do tell me Harry, where is it you discovered the information regarding my private time turner, few people alive know of it."

"I read about them, in Mr. Longbottom's journals. Neville said he had all sorts of experience with time turners and so we went through them, yours was one of them, because it was the closest one it was the best one to choose."

"Mr. Longbottom's journals? I suppose they were for Neville?" Harry nodded. "Yes, he has changed a lot since he left the Aurors, he was so different before, but he did have a great deal of experience as an Auror, he was one of the best. You must understand that what is contained in there are deep secrets, never let them go there is a great wealth of information contained in them." Dumbledore looked around, as though he were ready to leave. Harry wished he would, he wanted to talk to Virginia, alone.

Dumbledore however had something else in mind. He walked over to Virginia's. "Do you know what sort of magic you used when you cast that spell? Did you read about what the spell entailed?" Virginia nodded weakly, Harry wondered what else he might not know about the spell, what if it might cause problems. What other consequences could the spell have? "Then you understood what you were doing before hand, before you did it, and still you volunteered yourself and allowed it to happen. To be able to perform that spell you mist have had a great deal of willpower and courage."

Virginia nodded again, a small tear sliding down her face. "I did."

"Then I suppose I might be able to help keep everything balanced, keep consequences from coming to play. Do you think you would be ready to take on Hogwarts?"

Harry choked, he had just offered Virginia the chance to come to school, what was he doing? Why would Dumbledore do it, what else was Virginia not telling him? If Virginia could come to school everything might be better. "She gets to come this year?"

Dumbledore turned to Harry. "Well, given the circumstances I see nothing wrong with bringing her into the school this year, she is starting a little late but I believe that you would be able to help her catch up. Her skill level is obvious, she has enough magic in her to start her age is not important... What do you think Ms. Weasley, the school year has started so you would have to work extra hard, do you think you could handle 3 months of extra work?"

Virginia nodded excitedly. "When could I start?"

"As soon as you feel up to it, is that alright with you?"

Virginia nodded with a lot of enthusiasm. "As soon as Madam Pomfrey says it's alright I'd like to start. But... My mother, I have to ask her."

"I've already spoken with her about this, she said it was alright if you wanted too, she knew how lonely you were getting without Ron or your friend, when she found out that the friend you had over was on temporary leave from Hogwarts she felt even worse. So, when Madam Pomfrey approves I'll bring you to my office and we can discuss the details of your enrollment. For now I'll leave you to alone to talk now." With a wink Dumbledore was out the door.

"Did you hear that? He said that I could start this year and mum even said it was alright."

"Do you think you'll get into Gryffindor?"

"I hope so. That's what all of my brothers have been in." She smiled. "It's what you're in."

Slowly the smile in her face disappeared. "I wanted to ask you something, I wanted to say something earlier but Dumbledore came in. I said that I felt you, I've been having these dreams lately, and they scare me."

Harry wondered what sort of dreams she might be having. "What are they like?"

"Most are the same, I see people running, carrying me through a house yelling something I don't understand. A man comes, his face is hidden by the shadows, he says something and the person in front of my... dies." Virginia sniffled, tears started coming from her eyes. "He says something to me and there is another flash of light and everything falls, I'm so scared."

Harry remembered that dream, he still had it but not so strong lately, like it was muffled by something. It used to scare him too, but he learned to live with it, no matter how much he hated it. He knew what it was, what the dream was of, the night that his parents died, Voldemort coming in and taking away everything he loved. "What other dreams, you said most are the same."

"There was this other one, of a little boy named Tom. He said that his father hated him because he was a wizard. It was the night before everything happened with Sirius."

Harry thought back, he remembered having that dream, somehow she was linked to him in his dreams.

"Virginia, what did Dumbledore mean... about you knowing what you were doing before you cast the spell? Is there something that you're not telling me?"

Virginia looked away. "Can we not talk about that? It isn't anything that hurts you."

"But it does something to you?"

"It doesn't matter Harry, it was my choice."

"Virginia..."

"NO, Harry I don't want to talk about it."

Harry didn't say anything, there were a lot of things to think about. "Alright, I need to study for my potions class, Snape has been overly agitated at me lately."

"Harry, I didn't mean to... I just can't tell you alright?"

Harry didn't want to hear that. "Really Ginny, I need to go, Hermione will be wondering what happened to me." He turned and left before Virginia could say anything more.

After he walked out the door Virginia started crying. "You called me Ginny..." She whispered to herself

•

"Harry, I'd like to speak to you, after class." Harry looked up, seeing Ender staring at him.

"Alright sir."

The class went by slowly, Harry knew he was distraught about something but he couldn't and wouldn't think about it. When class finally ended Hermione and Blaise waited at the table with him. "Do you want us to wait for you Harry?"

"No, go ahead, I'll catch up with you guys in the next class."

Blaise looked at him. "Are you sure you're alright, you don't seem to be the same, as you were the other night."

"It's alright, I just don't feel well." Harry tried to avoid any thought of what was happening.

"Then you should go to the infirmary." Blaise said, concerned.

"No really, it's alright, it'll go away." Harry answered back, a little to firmly.

"Alright." Blaise left with Hermione following close behind her but not before giving Harry a look that he didn't like.

"So what's wrong Ender, did I do something wrong?" Harry sighed, he really didn't want to talk about this. Virginia was getting out tomorrow, Madam Pomfrey had kept her another two weeks to make sure everything had gone alright. He hadn't gone back since, he was too angry at her to go back and talk to her about it.

"You've been acting different the last few days, even worse than when you found out what happened to Sirius, is there something going on that I might be able to help with? I don't want you to fall behind before the end of term, it's not far away."

"No, I just haven't been able to focus well lately."

"It's not about Sirius is it... because I've spoken with a few people and they think that he might have pulled a switch somehow and he is still alive. Actually I recently spoke to Remus, he suspects that Sirius might have even come here for a day or two just after he supposedly died." Harry didn't feel well, maybe Remus had gone after him and that was why Harry hadn't seen him, but he had spoken to Ender so he would have had to come back here.

"You're not surprised? Is there something you know that I don't?"

Think quickly. "You're just telling me these things to make me feel better, he died in the fire, they found the body." Hopefully Ender would believe that.

"What if he didn't Harry, where do you think he would go?"

"I don't know, I expect he would get as far away from there as possible, maybe go to America where wizards don't know him like they know him here." That was the best answer he could give, give them no information at all.

"You would be surpised at how well he is known through the world, he is even more popular than the Dark Lord there. So... if it isn't Sirius that's causing problems what else could it be? Having problems with friends?"

"Not exactly."

"A friend?"

"Sort of."

"A fight?"

"Yeah. She did something, that involved both of us and I found out that the spell involved her more than me, that she might get hurt or something from it, she wont tell me though." There it was, he said it, he was angry at Vriginia because she was keeping the secret to herself.

"How long have you know her?"

"A lot longer than I've been in school, five years almost."

"Has she ever kept secrets from you?"

"No."

"But the whole time you knew her she kept your secret, and that was a big secret to keep, especially for someone as young as you are."

He had let it slip, that was like giving away a huge secret, Harry hoped ender would keep it a secret. "Yes, she knew everything and kept it a secret."

"Did you ever think about how she feels about it? About why she might be hiding the truth from you?"

"No."

"Are you even mad that she did that or are you mad that she doesn't trust you enough?"

"I don't know Ender... She's so stubborn all she had to do was tell me what she was hiding."

"And all you have to do is let her keep it a secret, let her win. You learn later in life that you don't have to know everything, that people keep secret for a reason to protect themselves our maybe she is protecting you from something." He maid a very good point, could he just let her keep the secret? Maybe.

"I have to go... I don't want to be late for class."

"Just one more question. Did you keep secrets from her while you knew her?"

Harry didn't want to answer that, he had all sorts of secrets he kept from everyone, even a few from Sirius.

"Alright... Go ahead, get to class."

Harry walked slowly down the hall unsure of what to do, he wanted to apologize to Virginia... Ginny right now, maybe treat her like she wanted to be treated. He would call her Ginny to start, she had always given him a hard time for calling her Virginia. But could he? He didn't know what to do, he wanted to but it was so hard, to admit he was wrong.

• Edited 2004.09.18 •


	13. The Sorting

Chapter 13

• The Sorting •

Harry walked into Dumbledore's office, unsure as to the reason that he had been summoned. Did it have to do with Virginia, or the spell? He hadn't done anything wrong lately, nothing that would get him sent to Dumbledore's office. As he ascended the stairs leading to Dumbledore's office he bit his lip, based on everything else that had happened today this wasn't going to be good. He had to deal with Snape in the halls while class was in session (he'd had to run back for a book he forgot) then after losing dozens of points for various reasons he had been taken out of the only class he was enjoying today, Charms.

Harry knocked softly. "Professor Dumbledore? You wanted to speak to me?"

No sound came from the office at all and Harry wondered if Dumbledore had heard him. Slowly he opened up the door and slipped into the room, Dumbledore wasn't there. Why had he been summoned here if no one was here anyway? Perhaps he should wait, but then again, if another teacher caught him up here alone it wouldn't be good. Curiosity got the better of him, Dumbledore had called him, and maybe he was just running behind.

A gentle hum, which sounded like an echo of a beautiful, far off sound, caught Harry's attention. Harry turned, seeing the bird again; this time sure it was a phoenix. Its plumage glowed a fiery red and it seemed majestic, not like when he had been in the office before. "You're the first phoenix I've ever seen. You're beautiful did you know that? Would you mind terribly if I touched you?"

Harry slowly reached out, wanting to show that he had no ill intensions. "I read about you last week, in a book one of the older students left laying about in the common room. I know you're cautious, but I don't mean you any harm, I just want to pet you." Harry hoped that the phoenix would let him touch it. He'd read a lot in the book, trying to get his mind off other things, Virginia mostly. The phoenix was powerful and if it could be befriended a dedicated friend. It could also easily slip away from anyone, having the ability to relocate itself should it sense danger or for any reason it felt fit.

A weak sensation passed through his head, as if he his heart was pounding in his head. It passed and then, as Harry took another step closer came again. I sudden feeling of trepidation filled him and he pulled back his hand, away from the phoenix. He took a moment and tried to focus, tried to clear his thoughts but it came again, stronger, with pain this time. Glancing up, Harry watched as the phoenix disappeared before his eyes and then he closed them and sunk to his knees.

"It hurts." He mumbled as if someone where standing in front of him. "Stop it, please."

A voice came, a response, from somewhere else. It echoed through the room and sounded tranquil, as if lulling Harry asleep. "It's life, this pain. It's regretful you have to feel it, really, but it's something we all must feel and it will help you understand."

"Understand what?" Harry could barely sense anything else around him accept for the pain and the voice.

A hollow laugh followed his question, it sounded queer, almost like the pain should be enjoyable. "Life is painful, there is nothing else."

Harry shook his head, the voice was wrong. "Life isn't painful, it's hard sometimes but it's not like this."

"Oh, but it is. You see, I was the recipient of it, the pain, until I fought back and pushed it onto others." The voice was loosing its lull and becoming potent. "Can you feel it, the pain others bring upon you?"

Another voice, from off in the distance resounded in his head and cut away the pain and the voice. Harry found himself on his knees, on the floor, his eyes closed tightly and his hands clutching his forehead where his scar lay. "Harry?"

"What?" Harry opened his eyes; disorientated and wincing from the pain his scar was giving off. It took him a minute, but he remembered he was in Dumbledore's office waiting for something.

"Harry, are you alright?" The voice came again, this time easily recognizable and sounding like a melody compared to the voice that had filled his head.

"Virginia... er... Ginny. Yeah, my scar was hurting and there was this voice..."

"I know." Harry finally looked up at her, standing just inside the doorway, her hand covering her forehead as well. "I'm sorry."

Harry, confused and unaware of exactly what had and was happening, didn't know what to say. Virginia took a step forward and started to collapse. Harry, reacting before thinking leapt to his feet and tried to stop her fall but found his disorientation was too much and he also lost his balance, crashing onto the floor next to Virginia.

There was a long moment that nothing happened, the disorientation and the scar pain lulled, Harry could hear Virginia next to him, her breathing becoming deeper as if the same thing was happening to her.

"Ginny, Harry, are you two alright?" Four voices, all familiar, called out and then several hands helped both to their feet.

What had been an empty room now was filled with several people, all the others having particularly bright red hair. Harry sat quietly; letting his mind adjust while the four Weasley's looked between them. Virginia spoke up. "We just were a bit light-headed, we're fine now."

Harry trusted her to make the best excuses for her brothers to accept. A question popped into his mind and he blurted it out without thinking, which was highly unusual. "Why are you all here?"

Ron answered a bit more pointedly than usual. "You wouldn't expect us to miss something like this would you? The first underage student at Hogwarts in three centuries and it's our sister. We're here to see Ginny be sorted. I suppose that you're here for the same reason?"

Perhaps that was why he had been summoned, but if this was the case, why hadn't he been told? He hadn't heard anything further of her sorting from Dumbledore, but maybe there was reason for that. Harry glanced around the room again, trying to determine what their feelings were about him being there. Ron seemed irritated, the twins showed no emotion and Percy eyed him warily; he didn't like Harry at all it seemed.

Harry glanced back towards the corner where Dumbledore seemed to have appeared out of thin air. Harry eyed the wall, trying to determine if there was a secret passage leading into the room, but was unable to see anything. "Hello Professor."

The rest of the group turned to him; surprised he had entered the room without their noticing.

"I see that everyone has made it, let's continue with her sorting without delay, I have much to do today." He moved over to the shelf were the sorting hat sat, looking out of place even in his office, like a piece of trash that was there only for sentimental value.

As Dumbledore grasped the hat it awoke and the crack above the rim opened up. "Yes, Yes, it's not been a year has it? I'm loosing track of time as I age."

Dumbledore chuckled. "No, you've not lost a year of time, we have a new student coming in and she needs to be sorted."

"A new student after school starts, I don't recall that happening for years and years and year... Not since Regallis the Reaper was around."

"Well, she's a special student, I don't think I need to tell you to judge her carefully. You'll find out her secrets soon enough." Dumbledore smiled and gestured for Virginia to take a seat.

As she sat on the stool Dumbledore sat the oversized hat on her head, it fell over her head and rested on her shoulders. The hats mouth opened again. "She's young, you're sure you want me to sort... Ah..."

The rip closed again and Harry could hear muffled sounds coming from beneath the hat, perhaps the hat speaking with Virginia. For a long time no other sounds came from the room accept for the breathing of the others. Harry had an odd sensation and shook his head,

_"And what's this?" _Harry blinked and looked at the hat, it hadn't opened its mouth, was he dreaming the voice? No, it came again. _"Harry Potter? Now this, this is interesting there are many things that you've kept hidden. It seams you've both been a little mischievous haven't we? Now let's see about that hidden little traits. You've definitely got Weasley blood, but there is more, your path isn't so easy to discern as it once may have been. You've got a thirst too prove yourself worthy to... oh that's interesting... You've a good head and loyalty, but that's been given hasn't it? Well even with your other traits I see that your courage stands out above all the others. It seams that you've got a future if you're careful. I trust that... wait a second..." _

The voice was gone and Harry shook his head, what had just happened? He couldn't have just heard the hat speaking to Virginia, that wasn't possible. "GRYFFINDOR!" the hat yelled out, bringing Harry back to what was happening. He had heard it, the hat speaking to Virginia, but how?

Dumbledore smiled brightly and lifted the hat from Virginia's shoulders, placing back in its former resting place. "You've a great deal to live up to, are you ready for it?"

Virginia was staring at Harry, trying to decide something. "Yes, I'm ready." She blinked and her gaze shifted to her brothers who were hooting rowdily, all but Percy. Harry meant to clap or cheer, even congratulate her but nothing came, he stared blankly at her unsure of what to think. Something slipped onto his shoulders and Harry looked to see whose hand was there but found instead of a hand the golden phoenix was perched there.

"Now's a fine time to let me touch you, what caused you to leave earlier?" He whispered gently as he stroked the soft feathers of the bird.

The room quieted and Harry saw that Dumbledore was escorting the other boys out of the room while they spoke excitedly between themselves, something about a party. Dumbledore turned, winked and then followed them down the stairs.

"Harry–" Virginia hesitated for a second. "When you called me Ginny... why did you do it?"

Harry looked at her, surprised that she would bring that of all things up. "Isn't that what you've always wanted me to call you, what you want everyone to call you?"

"Yes... but."

"But what?"

"But you never called me that before. I don't want you to call me Ginny, I like it when you call me Virginia, and it makes me feel special. No one else calls me Virginia, I want you to call me Virginia because you're my exception." Virginia blushed. "So don't call me Ginny alright? When you do it makes me feel like you don't like me anymore, like we're not friends."

"But I am your friend aren't I?"

"I thought we were, but you hate me now because I won't tell you about the spell."

"Virginia, just because we have an argument doesn't mean we are not friends anymore. I know that I was mad that you wouldn't tell me, but someone helped me understand that I may have done the same thing if it was that important to me. Virginia, we will always be friends, wasn't that what the spell was for, to make us friends forever?"

You really mean it, it's water under the bridge?" Harry nodded and Virginia pounced on him, the phoenix squawked and Harry felt it leave his shoulders while at the same time he was tackled by Virginia. "It's all alright then, it will all be alright."

Harry knew from the feeling of her voice and the look she gave him, the twitch in her smile, that within the words she had said lay something else, within those words held a key to the secret she kept. "That's what it's supposed to do right, make us friends forever?"

Virginia sat up on him and nodded, tears of happiness falling on Harry. "Yes, that's what it's supposed to do. We did promise each other we would be friends didn't we?" She hesitated for a moment. "Harry I wa... I lo..." she hesitated again, as if trying to make something out that didn't want to come. "I had thought, even after everything I did, we did, to stay friends, that maybe it hadn't worked."

The look that came next surprised Harry, he didn't recognize it, and he didn't understand what it meant. It was as though she saw something she wanted and could have but refused to reach out and take it as her own.

"Let's go. I think Fred and George are going to throw me a party and introduce me to all the Gryffindors."

Harry nodded and followed her out the door, glancing back to see the phoenix resting again on his perch.

•

Why did it have to be Snape's class? Everything last night had gone all right and she had gotten all of her things but away in her new room. She had left the little celebration that was for her and wandered of with Harry onto the grounds. Everything had been perfect, just like before, Now, now she was going to have to face Snape for her first teacher.

"You know, I don't think he's going to like you."

Virginia looked up from across the hallway where she sat. "I haven't done anything wrong."

Harry smiled. "You're an exception to the rules because you're an underage student, you are a Gryffindor and to top it all we're friends."

"And he'll hate me just for that?" Virginia looked surprised, as if no one were like that.

Harry nodded. "He'll find more, that's just to start with."

"Fred and George always used to complain about him to mum but I never thought that what they said had an ounce of truth."

Harry couldn't picture Fred and George complaining, they were the sorts that pulled pranks for revenge and didn't say a word otherwise. The hallway lapsed into silence again and Harry closed his eyes, he wanted to get some more sleep but would most likely get points taken away for sleeping in front of Snape's door when it was opened.

A soft clicking on the stone made Harry open his eyes again to see Malfoy approaching, surprisingly missing his two bodyguards. Harry got up and moved across the hallway, sitting at Virginia's side in case Malfoy decided to do something stupid.

"Well who've we here? Another Potter fanatic?" Ha stopped for a minute and stared at Virginia. "Who's this Potter, I don't recognize her from the sorting or any of my classes." Virginia was wearing school robes, Hermione had offered her a set until she was able to get her own so Malfoy could tell she was a student.

A hand extended out and Virginia looked up. "Ginny Weasley, I'm new here."

"Another Weasley? My Potter, you do seam to attract that sort of crowd. Why is she coming here, her parent's not able to afford to keep her around the house?"

Harry looked over at Virginia awaiting a response; he had noticed that she and Ron were very much alike; they both had tempers that were easily inflamed. She however surprised Harry and didn't say anything; she didn't even acknowledge his presence at all.

"I see that Hogwarts really isn't much of a school, its standards are lowering everyday. You know, if I were your father I might have tried to get rid of you too. Potter, I don't think that you should associate yourself with Mudbloods and muggle-lovers, they leave a lasting smell."

Malfoy took a step closer to Virginia and Harry was on his feet, ready to stop him should he try anything. Malfoy wavered from whatever it was he had been going to do. "She doesn't even have a wand I bet."

"She does have one Malfoy." Harry could hear Virginia take an uneven breath, she was listening, and wasn't aware that she had one Harry hadn't told her yet. He had two extra wands now, the one from his father and the one from his mother, Sirius was using Murdock's wand. He had kept them packed away in his trunk should he ever need an extra wand for anything.

"Well, that doesn't make her anymore a witch than giving a wand to a muggle. I bet she's just here because Dumbledore feels sorry for her." Harry ignored Malfoy, and slipped back down to besides Virginia. Malfoy took this as an insult and continued with his insults, first about Virginia's parents, then her older brothers, when he came to their lack of money Harry thought for sure she would respond, it was one of Ron's easiest points to target, but alas, nothing. Malfoy finally came to insulting Harry. "You know Harry's not much of a wizard, no one that allies themselves with Mudbloods and muggle-lovers could have much power at all. You should..."

At this point Virginia leaned forward and stood, surprising both Harry and Malfoy. She didn't say anything but stared right at Malfoy, eye to eye. Harry blinked and as his eyes came open again his eyes caught her hand moving towards Malfoy. _Smack_. The sound echoed through the hallways seemingly getting louder as it continued down the halls.

Harry coughed and almost laughed out loud. Virginia just slid back down to her seat on Harry's books. Malfoy stood there like an oaf, in complete disbelief of what had happened. "You... you..." he stuttered.

"She hit you Malfoy, and I'd say it looks as though it hurt." Malfoy's cheeks finally started regaining what color they had and it slowly became redder, eventually even turning purple, almost a plum color. "It sure looks as though it will leave a mark for a while."

Malfoy reached up and touched his cheek ever so softly. "NO ONE hits a..." his hand swung away from his face, down towards Virginia. "Malfoy."

Harry was aware of what Malfoy was doing and reached out quickly, catching his wrist before he came close to striking her. "Don't." Harry spoke quietly, trying not to call down anyone else upon him.

Malfoy's eyes lit up and his other cheek grew almost red enough to match the first.

"Do I perceive a problem?"

Harry halted, fully aware of what it looked like, he holding Malfoy's wrist and Malfoy with a mark across his face. Dropping Malfoy's hand he looked up at Snape who was sneering, as if knowing that he would soon be able to deduct further points from Gryffindor. His eyes moved away from were their hands had been up to Malfoy's face, they stopped and his sneer turned to surprise as he observed the slap mark. His eyes traveled slowly down to Harry next, determining what role he played, then finally to Virginia where they stopped.

Slowly the corners of Snape's mouth turned up forming into a half-choked smile, not malicious at all. Harry was surprised, it seemed he thought what Virginia did was funny, it wasn't the sort of smile that got points taken away, in truth even if he didn't know Snape for terribly long he couldn't remember him ever even hinting at a real smile.

"Malfoy, quit playing with these children and come inside we need to speak about the deterioration of your potions work of the last two weeks."

"But Severus she..."

"NEVER call me Severus, you are to refer to me as Professor Snape as all the other students do, it is a form or respect and you will respect me," Snape grabbed a hold of Malfoy's ear and yanked, "do you understand?"

Malfoy nodded unhappily, he wasn't getting anything out of Snape at the moment.

"Now," Snape yanked on Malfoy's ear, dragging him behind him, "let's go inside."

Harry watched them both go into the classroom and went over the details of what had happened in his head. It didn't go right, not that he was complaining, but it didn't go the way it should have. Snape should have taken points for sitting in the hallway, blocking the door, the mark on Malfoy's face, Harry's part in it by grabbing Malfoy's hand, there were more things but it easily meant at least fifteen points off Gryffindor, and nothing, nothing had happened.

"See Harry, he wasn't all that bad."

"No... he..." Harry wasn't sure what to say, that had definitely been Snape but it hadn't been him, he was different.

Virginia stood up and offered Harry her hand. "Let's go to class now."

Go to class? Snape was surely speaking about things that needn't be heard unless you felt you wanted to endanger yourself, he had to be if getting Malfoy in the room had been more important than deducting Gryffindor points. "We can't."

Virginia looked down at him and a sly smile spread across her face. "You're not scared are you?"

She was questioning his honor, his courage. "Of course not, we just..."

With out letting Harry finish she grabbed his hand and pulled him around to the door, then in after her as she entered the room. Harry heard a conversation die away as they entered but couldn't make out anything specific.

Snape leered at the new comers. "Is there anything I can do for you Ms. Weasley?"

"Nope, we just wanted to make sure we got good seats, I have a lot to learn to catch up and I can't miss anything." She said it happily, as if knowing it would anger Snape. Harry groaned and covered his face, waiting for the words to come but nothing happened. He pulled his fingers apart and looked at Snape who nodded towards the seats in the front. "Fine, take your seats and read up on the potions work we are working on this week. If you need help and Potter can't help I'm sure Malfoy could be of service."

That was it; Snape turned back to Malfoy after putting a silence spell around them and spoke to him again. Harry didn't know what was happening, it wasn't like it was supposed to be. He eventually was led by Virginia to a chair were she questioned him about several things that they had been working on that week. Harry offered what answers he could remember, which were most, but Virginia took a moment and figured out the rest herself.

Slowly the room crowded with other students and Snape and Malfoy split apart, Malfoy taking the furthest chair away from Virginia as he could possibly and sat, looking as though he where sulking.

The class itself went quickly and Virginia was very adapt at potions considering it was her first class, she made a few mistakes but nothing that Harry didn't spot and correct. When class was dismissed Harry walked out between a crowd that engulfed him, he couldn't ever remember a single occasion in class were he had at least been chided for doing something wrong, today Snape had left him alone completely.

"It seems we have a new student." Ender was the first teacher to actually make a not to the class about it. All the Gryffindor's knew of course but of all four classes it was the first that actually had any mention at all of her.

"Ms. Weasley would you please stand and tell the class a little about yourself."

Virginia stood up, she was seated at Harry's table and he watched her look around the class for a minute. "My name is Ginny Weasley, I am a new student here and am underage. Professor Dumbledore thought that Hogwarts would help me with some difficulties I'm having and so he let me come to school a year early." She looked over at ender. "That's all you need right professor?"

He smiled. "Yes Ms. Weasley, that's all I need, and please, don't call me professor, call me Ender." Virginia nodded and sat down next to Harry and dipped through the pages of his book, reading on what they were currently working on. Ender started the class as usual and pulled Harry away once everything he needed to say was out of the way.

"Harry, I've spoken to Dumbledore about her and decided that she needs to be taught a few spells, for her own safety, I'd like to know if you know them."

He outlined them, one was a protection spell that Harry knew and the other was a meditation spell, something to help calm the mind. Harry had never heard of it but understood the basics of it relatively quickly. "Ender, why does she need these?"

Ender smiled and shrugged his shoulders, "Don't know. She might, but you'd have to speak to her about them." Ender paused. "You know Harry, I've recently acquired proof that Sirius Black is still alive, I thought you might want to know." Again he paused. "But you knew that didn't you, you were more aware he was alive than anyone else, you were there."

Harry hid any emotion, didn't let any sign show that what the professor was saying could be true. "I don't know what you're talking about professor."

"You do, you were there, I knew someone had to have helped him if he lived. But how, how did you get there? You couldn't have been in class and there at the same time, unless... no, that isn't possible. Harry, you know that we need to bring him in, if he's innocent it will all be cleared up."

"And if he isn't, what then, will they kill him?" Harry asked fiercely, it didn't matter if he was innocent or not he had obviously spent his life trying to make up for anything he did by raising Harry.

Ender looked very seriously at Harry. "Is he innocent Harry?"

"Yes."

"Then that's all I need to know. And he's alive isn't he, you saved him?"

Harry didn't answer that, he didn't want to lie but he wouldn't confirm it either. Finally ender nodded, accepting that he wouldn't get the answer. "Alright, go back to the tables. Virginia is to be in your group, she needs to catch up quickly, that means that he will be coming to the meetings with you, is that understood?"

Harry nodded and went back to the table, trying to get his mind sorted out. If Ender knew he must have found out from Birdie, who would have found out from Remus most likely, but maybe it extended further, it sounded as though he knew it for a fact and Remus' nose wasn't enough for the Aurors to base truths on, no, there were other things, other people that knew too.

Virginia didn't seem to mind the extra work load that was placed upon her by all the teachers, to catch up with the other students. Harry had spent most of his time helping her understand some of the work. Hermione had also joined them and spent a great deal of time helping too. Virginia worked tirelessly, unlike Harry, who was glad to hear when dinner was ready.

Virginia took a few moments to put away her things while Harry and Hermione waited. Everyone else left all hungry because dinner had been detained for over an hour due to a confusion with the food supplies. Blaise, Ron and Neville were all working in Snape's class because Neville and Blaise had been fooling around and caused Ron's potion to explode. Ron had been with Dean who had gotten severely burned.

After Virginia finished they walked down to dinner. "Harry," Virginia asked on the way down, "this wand you gave me in Transfiguration, whose is it?"

Harry hadn't told her, he had simply supplied it to her when McGonagall was having them do some work in class. Virginia had taken it and had no problems at all using it at all.

"It's mine, you don't think I stole it do you?" Harry smirked, it was such fun to tease Virginia.

Virginia heaved a breath, exasperated. "Yes I know it's yours now, but whose wand was it?"

Harry smiled, wondering if he should tease her more, eventually deciding against it. "It was my mothers. When Sirius took me he went back and got their wands, it's what he's used since it happened."

Harry slowed, feeling overwhelmed by the feeling of thinking of his parents, that hadn't happened in years and years. "They would have wanted me to keep them, don't you think?"

Virginia turned and nodded, "of course they would have. Harry, if Sirius used this one then what is he using now?"

"Murdock's. When your brother pulled me out I had it with me. He took it when he left, I have my fathers too, incase."

Hermione, who knew generally what had happened was aware of who Murdock was and what had happened to him, looked at Harry interested in further information. "You know Harry, having more than one wand is against the Wizarding laws, if an Auror found you with multiple wands you might be taken in for trial, it's punishable for up to 3 years in Azkaban.

"Well, you're not going to tell anyone are you?"

"No."

"Then I don't think I have anything to worry about, it's not like I have Auror's regularly going through my trunk." Harry smiled, "anyway, let's eat." Just ahead was the great hall and Harry was suddenly very hungry. Both girls smiled and nodded.

Harry pushed open the door which swung easily, even if it probably weighed more than a Hippogriff. Harry heard someone's voice as they stopped talking and noticed that everyone was staring at them entering. Dumbledore was in front of the school. "As I was saying, I would like you all to meet the new Gryffindor, I know that it is contrary to this school's rules to accept underage students but due to some special circumstances Ginny Weasley has been accepted. Please treat her like any other student, and," his eyes sparkled. "should you find her wandering the halls aimlessly without any sense of where she might be, please give her a hand."

Harry could hear a few students chuckling and he headed towards the Gryffindor table, Virginia hiding as best as possible from the crowd. As Harry sat down he noticed that in the far corner, as inconspicuous as possible was Birdie, smiling directly at Harry and Virginia. Harry smiled and nodded her direction, he wanted to talk to her, maybe she would reveal what the other Aurors knew about Sirius.

Harry sat down, looking at her, he needed to pull her to the side before she could get away. Their food appeared and Virginia started eating, Harry had completely forgot his hunger. "You'll have to excuse me, I have to go do something." Harry stood again, surprising Hermione and the rest of the group who had saved them seats. Virginia however didn't seam at all surprised, she continues eating her food as if nothing were different.

Harry turned away, heading to Birdie. Birdie, seeing him coming discretely exited the side door where Harry followed. When he came outside she was waiting for him. "Yes Harry?"

"You... know about Sirius don't you?" She nodded. Harry closed his eyes, worried about Sirius. "Are they after him again?" Again she nodded.

"Harry, they will always be after him unless he can be proven innocent. You can't do that can you?" Harry looked away, if only he could maybe he could free Sirius and himself maybe everything could be better.

"No. He didn't do it though, you believe me don't you?"

Birdie looked at Harry for a long time before shrugging. "Harry, my job is to bring him in, it doesn't matter if he did it or not."

She didn't believe him, she wouldn't, something was preventing her from even questioning the possibility. "Why don't you believe me Birdie?"

Birdie looked at him for a long time again. "Harry, you know how he escaped, how everyone thought he had died?" Harry did know but she didn't know he did so he said nothing. "He killed someone that was very much like him, and then he let him burn in the fire so that we might think that it was him."

Harry shivered, they had it wrong, so very wrong. "How do you know, how do you know it wasn't him?"

Birdie looked at him surprised, as if she hadn't questioned that the person wasn't him once she had been told that. "They have seen him, and so they checked the remains with some special tests and it wasn't him Harry. It was someone he knew as a child his name was..." Birdie paused, trying to remember.

"Murdock." Birdie looked at him surprised.

"Yes, that's it, how did you know?"

"I was there." Harry admitted, maybe she would believe him then, maybe if she knew the truth.

Birdie looked stunned. "Harry, you couldn't have been there, it was... you were here, sick."

Harry shook his head. "No, I was there. Murdock and Sirius were in the shack when I went in. Murdock told him he was going to take him to Voldemort, that he would receive recognition if he did. I was under an invisibility cloak so he couldn't see me but when he tried to hurt Sirius the wrestled, I stunned him."

Birdie shook her head. "Harry you couldn't have been there, I saw you in the bed while Peter was gone."

"Peter came soon after, with more Death Eaters, apparently they didn't know one of their own was already there. I hid him under my cloak with me, so that the rest of them wouldn't see me. Peter came in he talked for a long time, saying that a special person had been watching the place incase Sirius returned. Sirius asked for him to leave me be but Peter made fun of it, telling him about how bad of condition I was in from taking the Veritaserum. Sirius swore at him and then spit in his face."

Harry stopped for a second, taking a breather. Birdie started to say something again but he wouldn't let her. "Peter was angry and send the rest of the Death Eaters out. Sirius got scared but couldn't do anything because Peter petrified him and left as well, telling him that no one would hear his screams if he couldn't scream. He started a fire on the wall near the door. I knew he wasn't coming back in so I came out and took off the spell but it didn't work so I tried to drag him out. Something hit me and that was the last thing I remember, I woke up in a bed at Hogwarts, a friend saved me."

"No. No. No. You were at Hogwarts the whole time, you weren't there."

Harry tried to think back, something that Peter might have done or said, a gesture something had to give him proof. "The person who was watching the house, I've seen him before, he came after us when we were in London. His name was..." Harry thought back, everything was sketchy. Kurt? Carlen? Catlin. "Catlin, he's a blonde man who is about 30, he was the one that Peter nodded towards when he said someone he trusted was watching the house."

Birdie looked surprised. "You couldn't have known that... He had just been transferred to that station and only six people know he was there at all."

"He's a Death Eater or at least working for them. Birdie, please listen to me. Peter was the one, he replaced Sirius as my parent's secret keeper, he was the one who betrayed them. Why do you think he was so unconcerned for me after he hurt me like he did, giving me that Veritaserum."

"NO!" Birdie turned and was gone, turning into a small bird again, Harry couldn't keep up with her she was far too fast to keep up with.

• Edited 2004.09.18 •


	14. A Secret Room

Chapter 14

• Secret Room •

"Virginia let's get moving, this potion isn't going to last for too much longer." Harry watched as she finished up the note and read over it quickly.

She handed it to Ron. "Give this to Blaise, she'll need it for homework and I promised I would help her with it. Understand?" Ron nodded and grunted something indistinguishable, taking the parchment. Harry shook his head, he probably wouldn't remember that Virginia had even given him it – he got so involved playing chess with Neville he didn't see anything else happening. Neville however was aware and would remember when Blaise came in, he played well but was also able to stay aware of everything else that was going on.

"Alright Harry, let's go." Quickly the left the common room, it was just getting dark and so soon Filch would be about patrolling the halls.

Harry wished that he had the invisibility cloak, or even the marauders map, either would make things so much easier. He had given the map back to the twins about week ago after getting tired of their constant pestering, the last task he had use it for was to knick some stuff from Snape. He wanted to return it to them earlier but it was so hard to let it go, it was so useful. Besides he had tried to memorize it as best as possible while he had it (he already knew half the passages anyway) and he had learned most of those that he didn't know.

"Remember, this is our secret – it's a hidden room and absolutely no one at school knows about it, the map that the twins have doesn't even have it. Sirius and father found the room in their second year and sealed it up, it had been cordoned off because of some horrible accident that happened a very long time ago, something to do with a beast that was roaming the school the barely found any information about it. The only thing they found out was that the school headmaster thought it was for the best to close it up, not even the ghosts. After they found it Sirius made it his own personal project to revamp it, he worked on it through most of his spare time during school."

Harry stopped as they reached the mirror that allowed them entrance. "Entry into the den is humbly requested."

A face, a shadow of a face appeared in the mirror. "James! It's been so long and you're so young! An spell gone awry? And who is you're guest, she's quite young, you two aren't..."

"No Padfoot, I'm not James, my name is Harry, I'm..."

The shadow gasped. "So James did have a son? Wow, you know, the resemblance is uncanny. I remember when he and I talked about what we would name our sons. You know your name originated from..."

"Padfoot!"

"Huh?"

"Just let us in alright, it's getting dark and Filch'll be around soon enough."

Padfoot apparently felt insulted. "You don't have to be short with me, I just haven't talked to anyone in years. Alright, alright... I'm sorry. I know you need to come in, so you're welcome to enter. I suppose you know how to get in?"

Harry nodded and motioned for Virginia to come over. "Touch the mirror here with your hand and stare straight into your eyes."

Just before doing the same Harry looked both ways down the hall to see if anyone was around, no one was. He reached out and stared directly into his eyes for several moments until his eyes disappeared and he was staring at an empty hallway. Beside him Virginia looked confused. "How did...?"

"It's a bit like a Portkey, but because it's only a few feet through the mirror and wall you don't feel the jerking. It's much simpler magic than a full Portkey. Only Padfoot can activate it, that's why he's there, you have to convince him to let you in."

Harry glanced around, he hadn't come to this room yet, it had been his fathers and Sirius' place so he just hadn't felt like coming at all. When Virginia needed a place to do this he finally told himself he would come here, see their secrets. "Harry, let's do this." Her mind was obviously set on one thing now, she wanted to become one, an animagus, just like Harry.

From the inner pocket of his cloak Harry pulled the vial, for all the ingredients he had put into it it didn't turn out to be very much liquid but it was concentrated. "You remember what I told you right? Don't spill any of it. You know what I had to go through to get this ingredients past Snape last week. I know it won't taste good but if you want this to work you have to drink all of it. I'm not about to go still more fereth extract from his stock."

Without saying anything Virginia took the vial, uncorked it, plugged her nose and swallowed it as quickly as possible. Harry shivered remembering the horrible taste of it, the feeling of it slipping down his throat. She choked and tried to stop herself from spitting it back out. Harry watched as she almost wretched but was able to stop herself. A full minute or two passed before she was able to hold it down.

"Good, there will be a funny feeling in you stomach, like butterflies. Tell me when it goes away." She nodded and Harry looked around.

While the potion dissolved, and it would take several minutes, Harry walked around the room. It was a large room, before it had been sealed off it had been a classroom. The sealing had happened a long time before, before even Dumbledore was a student at the school and everyone had forgotten it by the time his parents were in school. After doing some research and going through some of the schools history (the one that was not reserved for students and most of the staff) They had found out little, but enough. Some creature, something that no one had ever seen had once lived in the castle and its residence was within the classroom they were in now, from the description it seemed like a mix between a Dementor and a Lethenfold, after the room was sealed it just sort of disappeared and became one of the castle tales... even the ghosts had forgotten about it.

When you first looked around the room there was one feature, one thing that stood out above the rest. It was obvious that the room had been the object of lots of hard work and magic. The outer wall, directly across from the mirror entrance, was a forest. It wasn't just a painting, it was almost real, everything about it was real – the smell of pine drifted through the room, small animals scurried about in the wall. Harry knew that it was all magic, that the forest wasn't real, it was a memory of Sirius', when he was young he had visited the states, gone to a manor that the Black family owned there, he had seen this, this beautiful forest and it had stuck in his mind. He had never returned, but always wished he had, "_perhaps someday" _was all that he ever said.

Against the wall were chairs, each camouflaged in a distinctly different way, some made of ivy some of rock but they each fit perfectly in with the scene and were all comfortable. Harry walked along the wall, finding were the chairs were hidden, touching the painting. It had taken a very long time to do this, and though it wasn't perfect it was very life like. The wall stopped at the back of the classroom but somehow the forest continued on, a mountain in the distance topped with snow, Harry had never seen such a beautiful landscape and he also decided should Sirius ever visit the states he would like to go as well.

The back of the classroom was almost a potions area, several cauldrons of different sizes were stored in shelves. Cabinets with glass doors contained a wide variety of items for making potions. The next contained beakers and vials, each carefully labeled, potions and concoctions some for personal use, some for pranks. Some he imagined had not even been tested yet. Here they had created new pranks, tried new potions. The room was sealed, reinforced and continued a very strong sound barrier around it so that should anything explode no one outside the room would notice it.

The counter was made of green marble (Sirius had traded at Hogsmeade for it, sold some of the pranks they had developed), the edges were carved with intricate designs, all different but fitting well with the natural atmosphere of the room. Within drawers were multiple items, each with their own purpose. Some were for measuring, some for mixing, some for dicing. Between Sirius and his own father they had brought things from home and gotten their parents to supply them with tools or money to purchase them, this room was an all purpose room, it had a little of everything.

A bed, the only thing that did not fit in well was in the very corner. Harry remembered Sirius telling him about it. _"My 6th year I got angry at another student and did something foolish, something that would have got me into a lot of trouble had James not stopped it from happening. The headmaster, Professor Dumbledore, decided that I should be suspended from school for a week and sent home. Had my parents found out I've no doubt I would have been punished worse than I ever had before. James helped me insure that no letters reached my parents and I hid out in the room for a solid week while they snuck in food for me. It worked, I came back to school when the time was right and no one knew any different. Fooled them all we did, the only time I was able to pull the wool over Dumbledore's eyes." _As for what the foolish thing had been Harry never found out, it was one of the secrets Sirius guarded closely.

"Harry, it's just gone."

All thoughts were gone and Harry's attention immediately turned to Virginia. He moved towards her but kept his distance, the process that followed could get extremely aggressive. Harry's hadn't been, but, according to Sirius his fathers first transformation had caused him to loose control and he bucked around the room for several minutes destroying all sorts of things and nearly bringing the chandelier above them down on his head.

Closing his eyes for a minute he focused, he would do it exactly as Sirius had, and he remembered the process well. "You have to remember one thing, focus so that you don't loose control. Find one thing to think about, something that you couldn't easily forget it is the best way to stay yourself. If you don't gain control... you will stay as what you change into Virginia... Don't do that, it's almost impossible to bring you back from it. Understand Virginia?" There was a nod of acknowledgment.

Harry, knowing what the pain was going to be like flinched, remembering it at the same time Virginia grabbed her stomach and her face contorted. Harry stepped back, balancing himself, the pain was so vivid it was hard to think it was just a memory. Harry had recalled how he had once described the feeling to Sirius, it was what he thought a animal would feel like if it were gutted alive, Sirius had told him that it was much more like the Cruciatus curse, except it ended. Harry suspected that Sirius had felt the curse before but was never able to find out if it was true.

Harry felt the pain increase ten fold, it was the second step, two more and she would be an animagus. Virginia felt the pain increase as well, it seemed at exactly the same time, she however fell to her knees with tears coming out of her eyes. He had warned her, told her it would hurt more than anything she had or would ever feel but she still wanted to do it, she wanted to become an animagus. At last the pain increased for the third time and Harry knew it wasn't a memory, it was happening again. He too dropped to his knees and closed his eyes tight, unable to bear the pain.

A wild half-scream and the pain faded, Harry opened them to see Virginia no longer as Virginia but as some large bird, nearly the size of Paka. She must be an eagle because she was so large at so young of an age. Harry shook away the thought, he concentrated on what he had to do. "Keep thinking about that one think, don't let the animal take over." Sirius had done the same to him, coaxed him, spoke softly, made sure that he remembered he was still human.

Her wings spread and Harry stepped back and pulled out his wand, those talons were sharp and the beak just as dangerous, if need be he would have to restrain her. She lifted off the ground a few feet and Harry stepped back again, stumbling. This caught her attention and she turned to him, beating her wings and trying to move towards him but after only a foot she lost height and landed on the floor.

"Remember me Virginia, remember playing hide-n-seek in the woods? Remember the time I let you ride the broom and you almost killed yourself? If Sirius ever found out he'd punish me for not telling him and then for letting you ride it without supervision and then for letting you get hurt." Harry laughed. "He'd wake me up every morning before the cock crowed and then toss me in a lake or throw a mongoose in my bed."

Virginia opened her beak and a gurgled caw came from it. Harry smiled, she still remembered, she responded to him. It took her a moment but she balanced herself taking a wobbling step forward. Another, then another she soon got the hang of walking. One thing to another slowly she got the hang of being a bird. "Now change back, think of being yourself again, think about moving your hands, having arms and hands..."

Another screech came, this one sounded much more like Paka, a real piercing cry that echoed through the room and Virginia balled up. Slowly she changed shape again, back to normal. The pain Harry was feeling slowly ebbed away and he moved over to Virginia, helping her up. "You did it Virginia, you have a form, your own form."

Remembering what Sirius had done to him, how his first time he had been he continued. "You're some sort of hawk or eagle, I think an eagle because you were so large. Your transformations are relevant to your age, the older you get the older your animagus form gets. I'm still a cub, Sirius wasn't sure exactly what I was when I changed because I was so young so he guessed, I think he guessed right. But your form, I don't think eagles even get that large even full grown. Maybe you're something else, I don't know if there are any birds bigger than an eagle though."

The words were heard but Harry knew it wasn't something she would be thinking about right away, she would remember it later. Virginia smiled weakly then groaned, "that hurt."

That was an understatement, the first time he had experience it was just like this time but it didn't hurt as much this time. Still, the pain was the same, the extreme pain, the ripping from the inside. To Harry it felt like what he thought an animal must go through if it were gutted alive. Sirius had a different opinion, with all his experiences and age he could only relate it to one thing. _"It hurts like the Cruciatus curse except it goes away."_ He had only said it once and never mentioned it again, Harry thought that he might have had a bad experience with it; maybe he was tortured with the Cruciatus curse.

Harry knew why it hurt, everything was changing – everything was being prepared for being able to make the transformation. It may not have hurt so much because in some ways she already had that ability, she had taken it from Harry when the friendship spell had been performed. It took a lot of courage to even think about doing it. Harry had told Virginia about what sort of pain was involved but she still wanted to do it. The process was the most difficult physically, it stripped away everything human about you and left you with your only true animal form. It was dangerous to even try, to make the potion wrong would mean death or impairment, deformation possibly. If you weren't mentally healthy enough you would loose all grasp of life and just become and animal.

Now that it was done Harry was relieved, when Virginia had talked him into doing it he was reluctant at the very least, he had spent a lot of time thinking it over before he decided it was alright. He remembered years before when he had asked Sirius, how he had almost begged before Sirius would think about it, but now he knew how it felt for both sides.

Talking with her about it, explaining it had made her even more exited. Finally they had decided it was alright and so Harry had started the potion. It took nearly three weeks to prepare it and all the time he tried to convince Virginia not to do it. He knew it would not matter, she was just like him, she wouldn't give up as long as it had been done before. He recalled each step, everything he and Sirius had done. Sirius had talked him through it at each step of the preparation, made sure he knew what he was doing and how dangerous it was. Harry didn't do that with Virginia because he didn't want her to try doing it with someone else, he only did it because he remembered it perfectly. When it was done it was obvious if it had been done right, the brownish color of the liquid and the sulfuric smell. Harry had brewed it in one of the hidden passages in the Gryffindor tower.

"You'll need to rest for a few hours Virginia, you probably won't be able to walk until tomorrow." He laid her down on the bed in the corner and watched her until she closed her eyes. Hopefully she would fall asleep soon, that was she wouldn't remember the pain of her body as it adapted to the shape that she had taken.

Quietly Harry left the bedside. There were things to take care of and he wanted to make a quick potion, he was going to be up all night. First he took the used vial and cleaned it out in the sink in the back, placing it near a few other empty beakers in the shelf. He opened the next cabinet, checking the supplies that had been left, seeing what he could use. Each of the containers were sealed and enclosed in their own time charm, none should have gone bad. He riffled through the bags and jars making note of what he could refill immediately and what he would have to go to Hogsmeade for. A large glass at the end held a maroon liquid, dragons blood. Harry examined it quietly wondering why Sirius had never told him of it, blood like that was kept under careful restriction from the ministry, to have it you must have signed forms allowing for it, Harry wondered how they had obtained it.

"Harry, my stomach isn't feeling so well." Virginia murmured from the bed.

Harry knew the feeling but it couldn't be helped, she would feel horribly sick for another day or two. "It'll be alright, just try and get some sleep."

Virginia closed her eyes again and Harry continued around the room, he needed to see what was her, what was available for use. Schedules, lists of pranks, they had kept everything here. A wardrobe still held full sets of clothing, including shoes which were out of style and a few pair of dress robes. Harry riffled through them, checking there pockets for what might have been left behind but they were all empty. Candles of various scents were organized on one desk and Harry opened a chest to find several little trinkets. One thing caught his eye and he pulled it out, a wand holster, made of what looked like dragons hide. After a moments examination he found the initials J.P. carved into the back.

•

Harry sat in one of the chairs, just across from Virginia, trying as best as best as possible to stay awake, it was so hard. But he couldn't let her change again at this time, if she did change it wouldn't be good at all. The potion he had brewed had been basic, something simple but it was all that he could make based on the tools he had on hand.

"Shouldn't you be asleep Harry?" She had awoken, and far earlier than Harry had expected.

He turned to look at her. "Should I? You're the one that went through that painful experience last night."

"You did as well, I saw you on you knees before I changed. You experience it just like I experienced your dream the other day." Virginia grimaced as she sat up, Harry knew she could still feel the pain, he still could. "It still hurts but I think I can walk now." She stood carefully and made her way over to where Harry sat. "I'm hungry and breakfast has just started, shall we?" She offered her hand to Harry.

"Alright, we'll only be a little late." Harry stood and they left the room. It was much easier to leave than to enter, you simply had to walk through the mirror and into the hallway again. They walked through the hallways slowly, being passed by several people who ignored them and continued past them walking much faster. Harry felt his strength build once he started moving again but walked slow for Virginia, helping her along.

"Harry were have you been?" Neville asked. "Professor McGonagall has been looking for you and Virginia since last night, you should have told us you wouldn't be back so we could have helped you out and told McGonagall something."

"Yeah Ginny, where did you and Harry go last night? And why do you both look like you didn't get any sleep?" Blaise sat down at the table. "I was worried even after that note, you could have waited and told me in person."

"Mum'll be angry when she finds out that you two ran off last night." Ron added.

Virginia turned to him first. "You're not going to dare say anything or I'll tell everyone about that note I found under your bed last week."

Ron's eyes widened. "How did you...? You were in my room?"

"Harry and I were talking privately." Virginia folded her arms stubbornly. "Do you have a problem with that?" Ron shook his head and turned quietly to his food.

Hermione came into the room and immediately rushed over to Harry. "Harry get out of here now. McGonagall's on a war path and she'll be here in a few moments. She's been up all night looking for you two and I think she's lost it. Ginny you too, you'd better leave."

Harry stood but when Virginia pulled herself to her feet she was unable to stand and fell again. Harry bent over to help her up but was shoved under the table with Virginia close behind.

"Where is he?!" McGonagall demanded, her voice harsher than Harry had ever heard it.

Ron spoke first. "We haven't seen him yet. Maybe he just fell asleep in the library and hasn't woken up yet."

"He was just there." Came a voice from the Slytherin table, Malfoy. "I saw Weasley and Harry come in a few minutes ago, they were just there in front of you."

Harry could see McGonagall's feet approaching the table, she seemed to believe Malfoy over Ron. "Whose plates are these, they've just been used – the food's still warm."

"Ours." Fred and George said simultaneously, appearing from behind. "Afraid we had to take care of something. They saved our spots until we returned. We think we might've found Harry and our sister professor."

"And where did you find them?" McGonagall demanded, moving a step closer to them and away from the table.

One of the two walked to the table then turned. "Fred why don't you take her, I'm still terribly hungry. I'll see you in a bit."

"But they were just there Professor, I'm telling you they're in this room they haven't left yet." Malfoy's voice came again, he sounded calm but angry.

"Malfoy I'll take care of it, go back to eating your breakfast those two will get what's coming to them." And with that she and Fred walked out of the room.

George's head appeared under the table. "You know how to get to the infirmary through the secret passage right?"

Harry nodded. "But what about Madam Pomfrey, she can't see us enter into there. She'll tell McGonagall that we weren't there last night even if she doesn't see us come in."

George grinned. "It's already being taken care of. Here," he shoved Harry a white gauze patch, "just put this on your head and if McGonagall asks tell her Ginny fell asleep and you were looking for books about dragon lore for the history of magic essay and you slipped and hit your head. You do have an essay on dragon lore due soon right? Hermione told us that." Again Harry nodded. "Remember, when you got up this morning you went directly to Madam Pomfrey. Put the patch on only as soon as you reach the infirmary it'll take a few seconds to work but the newer it is the more realistic it looks. Madam Pomfrey won't be there, Lee's distracting her right now. You only have a few minutes to get moving."

Harry and Virginia crawled out from under the table and left the room hidden within a group of Gryffindor's that decided to leave breakfast early. Once outside they moved down the hallways quickly, Harry carrying Virginia a good part of the way. When Harry finally got to the entrance of the secret passage. It took longer than was expected because Virginia ended up half riding Harry in his animagus form so that she didn't have to walk the whole way. It was not comfortable for either but Harry was surprised it worked alright, he seemed to be getting larger than he had been.

"Crawl through first, you'll be next to a bed so if anyone is there you can crawl under it." After a moment Harry placed the patch on the side of his head, feeling a tingling and the feeling of a thick liquid starting to run down his head. He followed Virginia in, she was standing so Harry stood as well, no one was in the room. "I'll lay down, get a rag and wipe away some of the blood on my head, make it look like you've just tried to patch me up."

Virginia did exactly as Harry had asked, and leaned against the bed just as McGonagall and Fred walked into the door. Fred (who was talking loudly to alert Harry) quieted down. "Harry... what happened?" He covered his mouth and looked aghast, then winked.

Professor McGonagall looked around suspiciously. "Where is Madam Pomfrey?"

"She wasn't here when we got here," Virginia offered, "so I cleaned Harry's cut and put a bandage on it like mum taught me to do. Though he's still got a bit of blood." And she patted the side of head again with the rag. George had stepped back and was making faces, as if he were praising there acting skills. Harry stifled a laugh as best as possible but couldn't help but smile.

"I'm alr..."

Madam Pomfrey and Lee burst into the door in a hurry. "Where is he, is he alright?"

"As I was saying. I'm feeling much better right now and my head only hurts a bit. Not like when I woke up. Virginia bandaged it up, I think that it'll be alright."

"Shh!" Harry quieted. "I'll need to check that myself." And Madam Pomfrey started towards Harry.

McGonagall held out her hand. "First I'll need to speak with him, I'm sure his injury isn't terribly pressing, you can wait a moment to examine him. There was an incident last night involving he and Mr. Malfoy. Draco seems to believe that Mr. Potter just disappeared in the hallways."

Malfoy had seen him entering the room the night before... but he hadn't seen Virginia so he must have just barely caught the end of the process to enter the room, the movement from the hallway to the room. He had disappeared in front of Malfoy and he didn't know how to take it so he went to a professor and told.

"Uh professor, I was with Virginia all night, Malfoy didn't see her did he? Maybe he was just seeing things. You can't just disappear in the hallways can you?"

"No, he didn't mention her." McGonagall thought things through for a minute. "Perhaps someone was playing an elaborate prank on him last night. That does not however excuse the fact that you were out late last night."

"There's an essay due Monday about the dragons' part in magical history, the difference between in lore and truth. We were working on it because we haven't gotten it done yet. I suggested we go to the library and things just sort of happened. Virginia was reading and fell asleep, I went to get more books and I slipped. The next thing I remember was I woke up this morning."

"Alright, you've had your answer now leave. I've got a wound to tend to." McGonagall finally dropped her hand and nodded, taking her leave.

Lee and Fred where shooed out and Madam Pomfrey finally made it over to Harry to check his 'wound'. She seemed to think it was real telling Harry that it would heal in a day or two by itself and there was no need for magic. She pulled some chocolate bars out and gave them to both Harry and Virginia because they looked "as if you'd not slept in a week."

When they were finally excused Harry was forcing himself to keep his eyes open so that she would let them go. Virginia had gained more strength from the chocolate while Harry had lost it, she ended up helping Harry most of the way to the common room.

As they entered Fred and George attacked. "Did she think they were real, the scratches?"

"Did you get away with it?"

Harry nodded. "She believed they were real, she told me they were minor and would heal themselves."

Both grinned. "We've been trying to find a way to use those with Madam Pomfrey for weeks, we just couldn't find a good reason to go in there." Said Fred.

"So," continued George. "When we saw Malfoy come running into detention last night with this fantastic story about how you had just disappeared in the halls we had some thoughts. Snape sent us to fetch McGonagall. We happened to have the map with us at the time so we checked it, you weren't on it."

"When we got McGonagall Hermione mentioned that Ginny was with you, she wasn't on the map either. When Malfoy told his story again we of course were minding our own business." Fred grinned. "She was furious when she found out you were wandering in the halls, didn't say a word about Malfoy though. So after we were excused, while McGonagall was searching for you, we devised a plan."

"Because McGonagall wouldn't find you we decided that you would have to be somewhere in school for a good reason so that you wouldn't get into trouble. Mum would be furious if she found out Ginny was running around at night. Lee went and locked up the library for us while we made plans for what would happen. This morning, just before breakfast before Madam Pince opened up, we put a little blood on a bookshelf and made one of the seats look like it had been used to sleep in. After that we came straight to breakfast, everything seemed to work out perfects." George finished up.

Harry felt awkward. "Well thank you." He said, unsure of what else there was to say.

Fred looked confused for a second. "This morning you just appeared on the map again, near the great hall. It was almost like you just apparated into the school, you can't do that can you?"

"They can't do that on Hogwarts grounds. No one can, it's protected against by all sorts of charms. This school is protected by a lot of things." Hermione insisted from behind them. She, along with Blaise, Ron and Neville seemed as interested in the answers as the twins did.

"We didn't leave the castle at all." Virginia said quietly from next to Harry.

"Yes, then where were you?" Said Ron, "Fred and George said you weren't on their map thingy so you must not have been here."

"Yeah, you weren't on the map at all, how did you just disappear off the map, it shows everyone, it's never failed." Fred said while George agreed.

"We were in a hidden classroom. It's not on the map because it was my fathers and Padfoots', they didn't want it on the map because they only wanted special people to know about it, only a person knowing where it is can pass it on. It's a secret that I cannot tell you, I promised I wouldn't. Now why don't you just leave me alone?" Harry went up to the room and closed the door gently behind him, leaving it open just enough so that he could see and hear what was going on.

"He didn't get any sleep last night, he's just a little crabby." Virginia offered as an excuse. "Once he's gotten some he'll be fine."I'm a bit knackered as well, we can talk about this later. I promise we didn't do anything wrong, we were just trying some new magic and if we got caught we might've been in trouble." Then Virginia left the six trying to figure out exactly what had gone on.

"You don't think that she and he..." Fred looked at George "They wouldn't would they?"

George punched Fred. "You dolt, they're not like you they don't go around thinking those sorts of thoughts. Besides, Harry hasn't been looked at Blake's magazines like you do.

"I don't look at..."

"You do to. Did you hear what he said, about his father and Padfoot? Do you think that his father was one of them?"

"He did say that one of them was dead didn't he, that it was Prongs. He also said one of them betrayed prongs, and he's a Death Eater..."

"But Ginny and Ron said that Sirius wasn't a Death Eater... it doesn't make sense. Ron?"

Ron looked at them for a second, unsure what to say. "No... he's not, the one that betrayed Harry's father was Peter Pettigrew."

"Him?" Fred asked, "but he's an Auror."

"and a Death Eater. He's evil... I've seen it." Said Ron, looking ashamed.

"Who are these people you're talking about?" The twins seemed surprised when Neville asked, they just noticed that the rest of the group was still there.

"Oh well they're this group of..."

"Was, there was a group of pranksters called the marauders- they made this map."

Neville smiled. "The one that Harry had, we all know about it."

Fred scrunched his eyebrows. "They did that and more, they were really the best pranksters this school has ever seen. We worship some of the things they pulled off. We read about them in the school history. No one ever found out who they really were because they could just disappear and reappear throughout the castle at will it seemed."

Harry gently closed the door the rest of the way and walked to his bed. They were letting it go for now, maybe they would bring it up later. He knew he'd been unpleasant but Virginia was right he was tired and hadn't gotten much sleep, maybe he would feel better when he woke up.

I little chirp got him to look to the window. "Birdie?"

She transformed, standing and shaking her head. "Harry, about last week, I know I haven't said anything and I was wondering if you would consider talking to me about it again, I promise I wont run."

"alright."

"You knew about what happened with Sirius, I can admit you were there, but how?"

"I'll get into trouble for it."

Birdie looked a little surprised. "No Harry, I won't tell anyone I promise this is just between you and I."

"I had a time-turner."

That threw her for a loop. "A time... time-turner? How did you get one of those, we keep track of them."

"Yes, I know, I know about all of the legal ones and some that aren't legal. I stole one for the trip, I can't say were from but it is a legal one."

"Uh... alright." Birdie closed her eyes for a second. "You said that you had Murdock stunned, why did he die?"

Harry remembered why, he had foolishly left the cloak over him not thinking that anyone else would come. "My friend, the one that rescued us, he didn't see him because the cloak was still over him. When I was knocked unconscious he couldn't have known so it was my fault."

"No Harry, that wasn't your fault, you can't tell yourself that. – Who saved you?

Harry knew he could trust her, he felt it deep within he just had a hard time telling her everything, he never told anyone everything. "Bill Weasley, Virginia's older brother, one of his brothers from Hogwarts told him that we might need his help and he showed up just in the nick of time."

"Alright, where is Sirius now, why is he running again?"

Harry wished he knew, Sirius had just gone. "I don't know, he left because Remus knew he was here the day that I left, two days after the fire... Remus could sense him and Sirius knew he knew so he left to protect himself. He didn't tell me where he was going."

"Is there any proof that it wasn't Sirius, anything at all?"

Harry shook his head. "You could make him take a truth potion, he'd tell you then."

"But that's been done Harry, in a trial when you were young."

Harry closed his eyes, she was so close to believing. "The judge was a Death Eater, I've seen him with them."

"Barty Crouch a Death Eater, that's impossible. His father was the most rigid hater of Death Eaters that ever was in the ministry. For the short time he was minister he caught more Death Eaters than the next three."

The voice of Dumbledore echoed in his head, the night he had left the school, _"Now, with what's happening to the minister and all, he's next in line I believe? Yes, and with that terrible illness that just keeps getting to the ministers in the last few years it doesn't seem we'll have long to wait. Let us hope that he lives longer than the four who came before him."_

"He's going to be minister soon... the last few ministers, starting with his father have died of strange, incurable illnesses, doesn't it seem strange the way he's moved through the ministry so quickly? He was barely out of school when his father died. Dumbledore suspects him as well, I read about some of the trials he's judged, the judgments... they seemed so weighted some times. He's a Death Eater, it's why Peter got off, he was never really forced to take a truth potion."

"There is so much assumption Harry, you said you saw him once?"

Harry remembered it, he was young and Sirius had said his name when he unmasked him. Sirius had even almost gotten caught trying to hurt him for what he'd done with Peter. "Sirius ripped away his mask in a fight trying to escape them, I was young but I remember him because Sirius yelled at him, yelled his name and almost got us caught trying to get to him. He has a scar, on the left side of his chest just below his shoulder. Sirius gave it to him, with a curse."

"Alright Harry, I'll try to believe what you've told me, I'll try and help you. You should be thankful, my father convinced me to talk to you again. It's different somehow, but everything falls much better into place. I want to speak to Remus about it, maybe he'll believe me."

Remus believe her, he wouldn't, he was so angry at Sirius he wouldn't listen to anyone or anything that might prove he was innocent. "No, he won't, he'll need impervious proof, something that would prove it to the whole world. He's too angry at Sirius, he loved my father and won't stop until he's been revenged."

Birdie looked at the floor. "I can hope can't I? Maybe he'll listen to me." Once again she changed and was gone, out the window. Finally Harry could get some sleep.

• Edited 2004.09.18 •


	15. Settling the Score

Chapter 15

• Settling the Score •

"You want to get him back for trying to get us into trouble?" Harry asked as they walked down the halls. They had been excused from the class early and the next class they didn't have to attend so they had time.

Virginia nodded. "He would have tried to get me into trouble too if he had seen me. So, what do we do?"

"I've got a potion I can make real quick that might just do the trick. It should keep him away for us, at least for a while." Harry explained the potion and its effects into a little further detail. "So what do you think?"

"For how long?"

"Several hours, not longer than a day." Said Harry, his mouth slowly turning to a smile.

Virginia grinned. "Then let's do it, how long will it take to make the potion?"

"10 minutes, once I get to the room but Malfoy has to drink it. How are we going to do that?" Harry asked her, he didn't want to make the potion if it wasn't going to get used, it was only potent for a few hours.

"Never mind that, I'll figure it out while you're making it. I have some ideas anyway. Go and get the potion done. I'll wait across the hallways and make sure that no one sees you go in and out, just hurry it up."

They went out of the common room and down the halls, taking a secret passage so that no one would see them. Harry entered into the secret room while Virginia waited outside, thinking. It only took him a few minutes to complete the potion. Some erlos switches, a dash of pixie hair, langonass extract (liquefied of course) all mixed just right and a little bit of heat added, within a few minutes he had a potion with an alluring smell.

Harry waited at the mirror until Virginia sat down, the signal that no one was coming and exited. Virginia smiled as he walked out. "I think I figured something out, he took something from me last week and I think that if the circumstances were right then he'd do it again. Can we get a goblet for the potion?"

Harry produced a small goblet from his pocket; he figured they might need it. He poured the vial into the goblet and handed it to Virginia. "Good. Now… do you know a restraining spell, something to make sure none of it comes out? Just not something that's too hard to take off."

"I think I know a good one." Harry thought for a minute, remembering the pronunciation, the spell could call a barrier around themselves that stopped everything if he wasn't careful. "Uh… _clauses._ There, that should do it, it keeps everything locked in, but it shouldn't be difficult to remove the spell.

"Good… ok, come on now, let's get going." Virginia pulled Harry behind her and they headed for the Gryffindor tower. "We have to get everyone else first, they are going to have to help lure him in."

"Alright Virginia," Harry gave her an ear to ear smile, he was feeling brilliant. "You're the one that is in charge." She grinned and they continued to the common room.

Ron and Neville were playing chess again. Ron seemed to be angry that Neville could beat him without thinking excessively hard and so, any and every chance he got, he would challenge Neville. Of course, he did win about half the time, but if he didn't win all of the time it wasn't enough for him. When Harry explained that they were going to pull a prank on Malfoy Neville jumped at the chance. Ron, however didn't want to, he wanted to finish the game and beat Neville. Neville shook his head and just laid down his king, signifying that he had given Ron the game. The move didn't seem to make Ron any happier, but he did get up and agree to help out.

Neville sent Virginia up to get Blaise, who was in the girls' room. She also happily agreed to join their little jaunt. No one seemed to know where Hermione was. Harry had an idea but he left it alone, he knew Hermione needed some time alone, to get some things off her mind. Hermione was having a hard time dealing with Virginia; no matter how hard she tried she couldn't seem to work out a friendship with her. She had helped with homework, helped them get away with pranks and even helped them the night he and Virginia. But still somehow she wasn't accepting Virginia. She tried and failed, it was probably the first thing she had failed at in her whole life, so she skived off the first two classes, which meant it was serious for her.

They searched the castle quickly to find her but couldn't. Harry knew how to find her if it was necessary, but he didn't think it was. "We can do it without, her right Virginia?"

Virginia took a moment and thought over the plan again. "Yeah, we can do it without her, I'll just have to do it a bit different. It'll still work as long as he takes the bait. He's headed into the castle now from the lake; he was out that way when I saw him a few minutes ago. So we need to get the entrance before him that way we make sure he sees us without looking too suspicious. You can get us there right Harry?"

Harry smiled and thought, locating the nearest passage in his head. They could of course make it, if they hurried. As they traveled, Virginia explained the plan. Harry agreed it was a good plan; it would keep them out of any problems as long as he took the bait. It did, however, rely extensively on Malfoy's rapacity and gullibility. It also assumed he was smart enough to open the clauses charm.

"It's mine Neville, I told you that you can't have it." Blaise stood in the hallway, arguing with Neville and Ron, to a side hall just past the entrance of the castle where Malfoy appeared. "You can't have it either so don't you even think about trying to grab it while I'm not looking." She pointed to Ron who was edging towards her, looking at the goblet lustfully.

Harry and Virginia stood behind a doorway to a closet, where the secret passage had ended. Together they watched as Malfoy rerouted himself towards the hallway and then slowed, taking in the conversation. He stepped slowly forward, trying his best not to make a noise and interrupt the fight that was taking place.

"But Blaise, come on, I want some. I told you about it, that's the only reason you have it anyway."

Harry remembered why he had decided to try this particular prank, Crabbe and Goyle were serving a detention in McGonagall's class for doing something stupid and Malfoy had gotten out of it so he was alone now. No one was around to stop or to spoil the prank.

"Blaise, you know I won't beg but at least give me a sip."

"No." and Blaise pulled her hand away from Neville. Ron, seeing a chance, reached out and tried to grab it from her hands. Blaise, seeing him reach for it pulled it back quickly, but not quick enough. The goblet slipped from her hands and continued on it's path, flying through the air, then bouncing on the floor, and finally rolling to Malfoy's feet.

All three of the group looked up, stunned to see Malfoy there. Ron reacted fastest and stepped towards Malfoy, as if he could grab it before Malfoy could. Malfoy noticed and leaned over, plucked it up, examined it for a moment and then looking up at them.

"What's this?" he asked, trying to smell the contents, but of course the charm kept him from smelling it. "A sealed goblet, and three friends fighting over it? What sort of drink could it be?"

"It's not a dr…" started Ron but Blaise knocked him in the back of the head and he stopped.

Blaise then looked to Malfoy angrily. "Give it back, it's mine."

"Is not." Said Ron, rubbing his head.

"Be quiet." Blaise threatened him with her hand. Ron flinched and quieted.

They had played it perfectly for the little information they had been given, it was just as Virginia had thought it would turn out. Virginia looked at Harry and they both nodded, now was there part.

Both moved quietly into the open and then dashed down the hallways right past Malfoy, to Blaise. "Where did you put that, I knew I shouldn't have told you about it. If anyone finds out I snuck out to Hogs…" Harry covered her mouth and whispered something inaudible to her. Virginia turned to see Malfoy seeming surprised, as though completely unaware of his obvious presence.

"Leave Malfoy, you're not welcome around here. I would have thought you would keep to your own business after what happened before."

That did it for Malfoy, he reached up and touched his face very gently and then glared at Virginia. "I am as much a part of this argument as you are, I didn't mean to intrude. I just came across these three friends squabbling over something. I thought perhaps I might intercede maybe help with the situation. Now things have taken turn, I seem to have found something that they want, something that could get you into trouble."

"It won't get anyone into…" once again Blaise knocked Ron upside the head and he shut up.

"Not get anyone into trouble? What is it anyway? A potion, it doesn't seem to be a normal drink or it wouldn't be sealed up like this and they," Malfoy pointed at Blaise Ron and Neville, "wouldn't be fighting over it."

"Just give it to me and be on your way Malfoy." Harry asked, as nicely as he could.

Malfoy smirked. "Harry Potter… are you demanding something of me?"

"I'm demanding, I spent good money on that and the lady guaranteed me that it would help me out." Virginia stepped towards Malfoy. "Just give it back and I'll forget all about you being here."

Malfoy smirked again. "And what shall it help you do… everyone here seems to think they would benefit from it, perhaps I would as well."

Harry laughed. "You couldn't even take off the charm that keeps it in." Malfoy smirked; at that moment Harry knew he probably could open it. He growled. "Don't even think about it, just give it to Virginia, and let it be."

Of course the insult only compiled Malfoy's interest and anger. _"Eximo!"_

Harry narrowed his eyes, trying to be as angry as possible. He hoped it would be just enough to convince Malfoy. "Fine drink it Malfoy." Neville spoke out again, Virginia had not mentioned to do it and everyone turned to him, shocked at the outburst.

"Longbottom, I think I will, that you for the advice." He swished the potion around and smelled it. Harry knew it would be appealing. "It does smell good, let's see how it works."

"Don't." all five voices said almost simultaneously.

With a flick upward, the cup twisted up and he drained the small amount of potion in the goblet.

"You'll be happy to know it tastes good. Perhaps now one of you would be so kind as to inform me as to what this potion was supposed to do, if it works I'll let you know. I wouldn't want the poor little Weasley girl to be without the few Knuts she can spare to purchase a potion for herself.

Ron jumped at Malfoy, extremely angry, not just as part of the act. Harry grabbed a hold of him but was unable to stop him, he did however drag his cloak off of his back causing him to fall to the ground and slide forward.

Malfoy, having no other defense, stepped back and hurried away before Ron could get back to his feet. Neville helped Harry haul Ron upright. Ron glared at Neville. "You almost blew it."

Neville shook his head. "No, he wasn't enticed enough; he thought we might be lying. I've seen enough deception to understand how it works and when it won't. It wasn't going to work if I didn't do something so I did."

Harry motioned towards the closet and they all entered, closing the door behind them. Harry pulled the two poles at the back of the closet and the whole back disappeared altogether. Neville scratched his head. "They never have the same method to enter do they?"

"No, there is not a single one. Some have passwords to open them, but none have the same password."

Everyone climbed the steps to get back up to the Great Hall, lunch started soon and afterwards they had normal classes again.

"Well, Malfoy certainly won't make that same mistake again will he? You know, he believed that we were far too stupid to fool him; it was his own cockiness that got him into this anyway. It's amazing, the ease to which people can be manipulated, isn't it?"

Harry nodded; Neville seemed to have seen a lot of this before, perhaps from his father. "I know a lot of people that have been manipulated and they never even knew."

Virginia nodded and looked between everyone. "Well, what do you think happened to Hermione?"

Harry was starting to wonder that as well, he was even thinking of trying to find her. "Blaise did she say anything before she disappeared his morning?"

Blaise thought back. "No… I don't think so. When we were getting ready to go to classes and she came down she said something about you not being there. She told us she forgot something in the library and she would catch up to us in class."

Harry sighed; she must have been having a problem with Virginia. But what triggered her disappearing like this? "I'll find her while we're at lunch, don't worry." Virginia started to ask something. "No, it's alright, I'll find her alone. I need to talk to her anyway, I think I may know why she left."

Neville stared at Harry for a second and then changed the mood dramatically, back to the thoughts of Malfoy. "So, that potion... what did it do anyway? I smelled it were I was standing and it did smell quite delightful."

Harry laughed lightly, his thoughts still on Hermione. He hadn't told anyone but Virginia about exactly what the potion did.

"Well it's hard to explain. It is made of a complex formula that affects the glands in his body. They'll produce a certain enzyme that causes severe…"

"It makes him stink so bad that you could smell it even if you didn't have a nose." Virginia summed it up, making it quite clear. "He won't be able to smell it himself, the potions cuts out his sense of smell temporarily. Of course everyone else will smell him from the other side of the room."

"Yes, that's a basically it."

Neville stopped and blinked. "You're kidding right?" He stared at Harry before bursting out laughing. "You're not serious, he'll be furious."

"No he's not kidding. I heard my brothers talking about something like that a week ago, they couldn't get it to work." Ron said, grinning broadly.

"Yeah, Malfoy'll be angry at us of course but you know that's all part of playing a prank. He shouldn't have tried to get me into trouble when he saw me in the halls. I've seen him enough times and not reported it."

Virginia poked him. "Yeah, but you cheated, you had a map that showed were he was."

"But I still could have told someone and gotten him into trouble." Harry pointed out.

"You know Harry, Fred and George, they'll certainly want to know that Harry knows how to make it. I think they wanted to get Snape back for something he did to them." Said Ron. "It'd help pay them back for saving you the other day from getting into trouble."

"Snape'd just make an antidote to it anyway." Offered Blaise.

"He couldn't." said Harry. "The potion doesn't have an antidote and anything that he tries to make it go away will make it work, that's the best part of the potion."

They reached the entrance back into the main hallways. This one was just near the great hall, behind the banner that hung on the wall across from the doorway. It provided perfect cover to slip into the hall without revealing the passage. They stood there and waited until the hallways were clear and then together they walked into the open, heading for lunch.

Fred and George were sitting down talking to Lee. Harry didn't sit down with the rest of the group, he patiently waited until the twins were finished with their discussion and they looked up at him.

"The map, do you have it?"

Fred whispered something in George's ear. George nodded and looked up at Harry. "You've still not filled your end of the bargain for borrowing it the first time."

Harry thought for a moment. "I can help you with a potion you've been trying to figure out, the one that produces a special odor."

They whispered again between themselves. "No, not good enough."

"Alright, if I tell you who one of them was will you let me look at it, I don't need to take it, just look for a second."

More whispering, this time their answer took much longer. "All right, but we want to know id Sirius was one of them."

"Yes, he was Padfoot."

Fred looked at George and smiled. "Good enough for me." And from his pocket he produced a folded parchment.

Harry quickly checked it, finding Hermione quite quickly. He folded it again and handed it back to Fred. "I'll give you the proper direction for that potion later. Class starts soon and I need to get something to eat.

Flitwick was not his usual self; he actually had them read information instead of trying it out first. Then he excused the class early. Harry wasn't sure if there was a reason for that other than the horrible smell that permeated everything. Malfoy of course acted as if nothing was wrong and the rest of the Slytherins just tolerated it without saying anything. They seemed to have a conflict of interest, most positioning themselves directly between Malfoy and the Gryffindors.

Harry waited for Hermione to show up but by the end of the day she hadn't. When everyone went down to dinner Harry separated himself again. Virginia called to him but Harry told her to go on, that he would catch up.

Harry climbed the stairs to the astronomy tower and then found the staircase that led back down to a storage room. He quietly opened the door and then closed it behind him. Hermione was sitting at a corner window staring out at the lake. Harry, not wanting to disturb her, sat down next to her and stared out the window as well. It was beautiful, the sunset, Harry couldn't recall really watching one before.

"I was wondering if you'd show up."

Harry grinned. "You know there is nowhere in this castle you can hide from me." Then he thought about what she had said. "You wondered if I'd come? You thought I might not?"

"You did take your time didn't you?" Still she stared out the window.

"I was giving you some time to think, that's what you need wasn't it?" he paused but Hermione didn't answer right away. "Besides, I had to take care of some personal business with Malfoy. I think he'll think twice before trying to get me into trouble."

"Yes, I'd thought you'd get around to that. Virginia helped…?"

Harry couldn't tell if she was trying to ask him a question or state a fact. "Yes, she was, actually everyone was but you, we couldn't find you."

"Oh." Harry could see Hermione blink and look away from the window and away from him.

"Are you alright Hermione? I know you and Virginia don't get along all that well together."

"Did you know that the sunsets here don't reflect off the lake? It's a charm that keeps the giant squid as calm as possible."

Naturally she was in some sort of denial, she was trying to avoid the subject altogether. "Well why Hermione, what is it that you can't accept about her?"

The look Harry got from her when she finally turned and looked at him was mixed. "Harry, it's not that I can't get along with her… I could really it's just… well I don't know, things haven't been the same since she came. Everything just changed, I thought we were friends."

"You thought…" Harry didn't understand, it wasn't Virginia that was causing the conflict? "Hermione we are friends."

"Then why do you always go away with her, and show her all your secrets?"

Jealousy that was why Hermione was here, Harry thought back for a moment. Yes, he had been doing things with just Virginia since she came to Hogwarts; they had been friends far before Hogwarts. "Hermione do you have any friends, from before?"

"Before Hogwarts? No, I never had many friends."

It was just as Harry expected. "Hermione, it's not that I don't like you. Virginia was my only friend from before Hogwarts. We did everything we could together. I'm sorry if I ignored you. You, Neville, Ron and Blaise are all my friends, I just wanted to do some things with Virginia."

"So you still like me then?"

Harry laughed. "Hermione, you're one of my best friends, of course I like you."

Hermione smiled and stood up. "Alright, I suppose I'd better get back. Tell me, what classes did I miss today?"

Harry smiled, yes; she was worried about her classes she had missed now that everything had been worked out. "They called a meeting just after second class started and so we only had three today. Something happened that was very important, but I don't know…"

"He made a public appearance."

Harry stopped speaking. "Who?"

"Him… that's what they said, they never said his name… just He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."

Voldemort had made an appearance? But, he wouldn't do something like that unless he was strong enough. "But how do you know Hermione?"

Hermione pointed to an air vent that was on the wall just near where she had been sitting. "No one checked to see if they had a silence charm around the office at first so I heard some of it and then I couldn't hear anything. They sounded like something really bad had happened besides what I said, but I didn't hear what it was."

"Who?"

"The ministry officials, someone named Crouch."

As they came into the great hall to get something to eat Harry could see Birdie hiding in the corner again, just to where Harry could see her. "Hermione, go to the table, get something to eat, I'll be right there." Hermione nodded and went to the table.

Birdie slipped out the doors with Harry close behind. She found another corner to stand in and looked at Harry sullenly. "I suppose you know about the encounter."

"Yes… he's returned."

Birdie sighed. "I think you know things even before I do sometimes. You'd be perfect for our investigation department."

"So, I know he's returned, but I don't know the specifics of what happened."

Birdie was about to say something but she looked up at the hallway, just out of her sight. Harry looked up as well. He was standing out in the hallway and not in the corner as Birdie tended to do. Malfoy was walking down the hallway, he seemed angry. When he saw Harry he growled. "Potter!"

Birdie faded even further into the shadows as Malfoy approached. "Potter I know what you did to me. You're going to get into trouble for it."

Harry smirked. "Into trouble, you were the one that took it from us. Just because it falls to the floor doesn't give you the right to take someone's stuff. Besides, we told you not to drink it and you still did."

"You didn't."

"We all told you not to drink it, that what was in it wasn't your business."

"You knew I would still drink it." Malfoy snarled.

Harry stepped back, Malfoy was very angry. "It was purely your choice Malfoy. Did I disgrace you in front of the other Slytherins?"

As Harry said the words, Malfoy yanked out his wand, brandishing it. "I'll make you pay for that stunt."

From the shadows Birdie appeared. "I see that there seems to be a problem, is it anything that I could assist in?" She scared Malfoy enough to drop his wand.

"No…" he stammered, "we were just having a personal discussion about something that happened earlier today."

"Well you interrupted a conversation that was already taking place, please finish up and be on your way." Birdie said stiffly.

Malfoy faltered for a second. "We'll speak about this later Potter." Then he walked into the great hall.

"Misbehaving again Harry?" Birdie smiled.

Harry turned back at her, insuring that Malfoy had gone first. "He deserved it, besides, we told him not to drink the potion. Well, at least the stench is gone, it only last a few hours."

Birdie stifled a laugh. "Well, in any case…" her tone became serious again. "I shouldn't be telling you this it has been deemed privileged information at the moment and only a few besides those who witnessed it know. It's off the record, understand?"

"Yes, then why do the teachers here know?"

"You'll find out soon." Birdie sighed. "The ministry has suspected he was coming to power again and so they setup an attack based on the intelligence we had. Everything seemed to go right; we captured several suspected Death Eaters and found a vast amount of information. Before we could leave we were ambushed. A large force of Death Eaters led by Voldemort himself, apparated into the building and attacked. Nine of us got away with our lives."

"I thought it was a public appearance."

Birdie nodded. "We were in a manor just inside of Hogsmeade, the fight ended up on the streets."

"Then how did you keep it from getting out? By now every witch and wizard in England should know."

"Those who didn't die were immediately interviewed and obliviated. If the public knew what happened then… well, it would not be good. Word will get out, we cannot find two who were present, but the ministry will strangle any mention of it for as long as they can."

Harry wondered if Wormtail was within those who were there, he of course would have escaped. "Birdie."

"Harry I have to leave again, I can't tell you anymore."

The whole hall was silent when Harry entered, Dumbledore stood in front of them looking unusually gloomy. Harry quietly slipped in and disappeared into the shadows so he didn't interrupt anything. "I'm afraid, students, I have something troubling to talk to you about. Early today a great tragedy occurred. I am afraid to say that Professor Vector and Mr. Filch are no longer with us. There was an accident and nothing could be done for them."

The whole hall burst into conversation. Dumbledore shook his head and sat back down. Harry knew why the teachers had been alerted earlier about Voldemort. Naturally a Hogwarts teacher would try to stop Death Eaters and even though Filch had been a squib he had still probably tried. Hermione would understand what had happened as well. So two people knew, Harry wondered how many others would know by tomorrow.

While there was a commotion Harry hurried over to the Gryffindor table and seated himself between Hermione and Virginia. Virginia was eyeing him. "Was it him?" she whispered quietly.

Harry nodded. "Not now." He told her.

So they quietly ate, Harry thinking about why Voldemort would decide now was his time to come again. McGonagall touched Harry's shoulder. "Dumbledore would like to speak to you, please meet him at his office. Now, get moving."

As the rest of the students hurried off to their own common rooms Harry waited with Hermione and Virginia. "Dumbledore wants to speak to me. You go on ahead, I'll tell you what happened later."

The gargoyles that protected the entrance to Dumbledore's leered at Harry as he waited,

"I trust you didn't wait long Harry?"

"No, only a few minutes."

Dumbledore smiled, awkwardly and let them into his office. "I've got something to tell you." He said.

"About the Death Eaters in Hogsmeade?" Harry asked.

"Well…" Dumbledore stepped off of the moving stairs, "not exactly. Sirius was spotted in Hogsmeade just after the attack. He disappeared again but I just wanted to let you know."

"Sirius?" Harry asked again surprised, Sirius hadn't made contact with him in a while no matter how many times he sent Paka out.

Dumbledore nodded. Harry almost turned to leave right then. If Sirius was still in Hogsmeade, Harry might still be able to find him. "That's all, you can go now Harry."

Outside the door were Virginia and Hermione, waiting anxiously. "Harry, come on, you need to come with us. Something terrible happened."

Harry followed behind them as the rushed through the hallways. They stopped and opened a secret room, Harry following close behind. Inside were the twins and Neville, bent over a bed. Harry glimpsed feet and he moved around the girls to get a better look. "Sirius!" he cried out the moment he could see the person.

Sirius lay stretched out, badly injured, on a makeshift bed. "What happened?" Harry demanded of the twins.

Fred shrugged his shoulders. "We were turning off the map, because you left it on, and we noticed him coming in through one of the passages. He was like this when we found him. Should we get a teacher or Madam Pomfrey?"

"No!" Harry responded immediately. "I can take care of it."

For the next several minutes Harry did his best to heal the unconscious Sirius and did a fair job, but not as well as a medi-wizard would have. He could tell Sirius had lost a lot of blood; his whole cloak was soaked in it. On his exposed body were several wounds from spells, some of them Harry could not heal at all.

"Sirius." Harry shook him gently after trying to bring him to consciousness with a spell. "Wake up, tell me what happened."

Sirius groaned and rolled onto his side. "Take off his cloak and his shirt." Harry could see blood was still flowing freely, the bottom of the bed was now soaked as well. The twins stood there, awkwardly. So Neville pulled off his cloak and ripped his shirt from the side. Harry could see a long gash down the side of his torso, almost extending from his arm to his waist. Harry looked at it carefully and thought out loud, "I can't fix that one."

• Edited 2004.09.18 •


	16. Mrs Norris

Chapter 16

• Mrs. Norris •

"You heard what I said. Dementors."

Dumbledore was heated, which was unusual, even in the worst of circumstances Dumbledore was well composed. "Absolutely not! I forbid those beasts to come onto the premises. I don't want to ever see those things... those creatures, in my castle. I understand that you have been in a great deal of pain for a long time because of what happened. But I will not allow for anything as vile as those creatures to enter into this castle. Have you thought about the things Harry might experience?"

"Yes, I understand what he might see. I see things I don't ever want to remember when I'm around them. But they are necessary. What's to happen if we catch him, what shall we do then?"

For a moment Dumbledore's face hinted at a smile. "Catch him? You've been chasing this ghost for the past 10 years and now you don't even know what you'll do if you catch him. He's a man, just like everyone else, you'll do what you're required to do and nothing else."

"He's not a ghost, he's real, and we'll catch him. We have before-" Remus paused for a moment. "But he got out of it somehow, it's impossible, but he did. He took Harry and left, I almost saved Harry from him. We had him locked in there so tight not even the dark lord could have escaped without help." He paused again and understood what was happening. "But that's not the point. I want to search this castle through and through. I know he's here."

"As I said before, you're welcome to do any searching you'd like. You may bring other Auror's to do it. I will not, however, allow for a single Dementor to enter these grounds. If you catch him take him away from here and do what you like."

Remus's face bunched up. "Bloody hell Dumbledore, why can't you just tell me where he is and we can get this over with. He's a criminal. He's murdered and ravaged. He is just as bad as the dark lord. He stole Harry away from you and reared him to do what he wanted. Why do you protect him like you do, you know where he is."

Dumbledore sat back down, the Dementor subject having been decided. "I have not seen Sirius Black in this castle in quite some time. Please do not insist otherwise."

For a long moment nothing else was said. Remus finally nodded and stood. "I'll begin the search as soon as it is approved by the order." Then he began to leave.

"Yes, the order. They've regrouped, reformed because of what's happened lately?"

Remus stopped and nodded. "You know this of course. What I do not understand is why you have declined the invitation to join."

"I have not declined. I have simply chosen not to participate at the moment. I don't feel confident that my services are needed at this time. When the time comes perhaps I will be of service. If something happens and I am needed rest assured, I will be available. There are other issues as well, I have a few concerns about some of the newly recruited members."

Remus started to walk away shaking his head. "You know that's not what I meant. Before, when we had the order... you _were _the order. Without you it was nothing, it is nothing." He waited for Dumbledore to say something, but nothing was said. "I'll just take my leave then."

For the third time Remus turned to leave and stopped. He turned, his face scrunched for a moment, thinking. "Dumbledore. The ministry, they wanted me to check through Mr. Filch's and Professor Vector's things. I'll do that before I return." It was an obvious excuse to merely get at Filch's things.

Dumbledore nodded. "Of course, you must do as you are asked. I expect you know where there rooms are?"

Remus didn't even bother to answer the questions and before Dumbledore could say another word he was no longer in the room.

There was a long few minutes were the only sounds heard where the scratching of a quill and a soft hum, coming from Fawkes. Dumbledore finished the parchment, signing it with a sweeping signature and then sat upright, staring ahead at nothing. "You may come out now Harry."

Silence.

"I do not plan on leaving this room anytime soon, nor do I plan on exposing you myself."

Silence.

"I could call Lupin back in, I'm sure he has a few questions he'd like to ask you."

Behind Dumbledore a door creaked open and Harry tumbled out of the awkward position he had been stuck in for the past hour. "How did you know?" He asked as he pulled himself up off the floor, stretching. "I never made a sound."

Dumbledore turned to him, smiling. "There are more things than noise that gives a person away. This chair..." he pointed to the one across from his desk. "was moved further back, as if someone had been waiting for me with their feet on the desk. And a coin," Dumbledore pointed to a golden coin that had fallen from Harry's hand when he had hurried to hide himself, "a queer habit."

Harry picked up the coin and pocketed it. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hear all that."

"And all is forgiven. I would have made sure you didn't hear if I thought it was necessary."

"How is he?"

"Healing, slowly, but with Poppy's help he's doing better. The curse he was struck with was a very powerful one, and should have killed him by now. I do not understand exactly what happened but it seems something prevented it from happening, Poppy's not sure exactly what it was to start with."

"Where is he?" asked Harry, wanting to see him.

"Truthfully, I am not aware. I sent him to a concealed room that only Poppy knows of."

Harry had already found that out. He had scoured the castle twice looking and then resorted to borrowing the Marauders Map yet again and trying to find Sirius on it, even then he was unable to. "Were you telling Lupin the truth, when you said that if they caught him they could do as they liked?"

Dumbledore nodded. "It was not as it seemed. I would allow them to do what was required if and only if they were somehow able to keep him. I do not want him to be caught, nor do I have any intention of allowing it to happen. Sirius is a crafty person, he is very capable of getting himself out of most situations should the need arise. If he is caught and cannot escape himself I would insure he was given the chance. But then, that is if he is caught. I trust Poppy to have him hidden well enough to keep even the most resourceful of people at bay."

"Why did you lie?"

Dumbledore looked at Harry and shook his head. "Not a lie, a deception. I told him I had not seen Sirius in some time, which is very much true, I have not. Though I could see him if need be, I have not seen him. You've done as much." Harry had, of course he had, to save Sirius, to stay out of trouble. But for Dumbledore to lie... it just didn't feel right.

"Can I see him?" Harry asked, hopeful.

"No."

Harry faltered. There was of course good reason for him not to see Sirius but he needed to Sirius. A thunderous knock on the door surprised Harry, nearly causing him to fall to the floor. For a moment the thoughts of Sirius disappeared.

"My messenger. I do hope he's brought good news." Dumbledore said to himself. Then he spoke much louder. "You may come in Hagrid."

The door opened and the largest man Harry had ever seen, so large that he couldn't have been a normal man, walked in.

"S'rry about not comin' sooner Dumbledore sir. I had a time gettin' 'em ter talk. They'll need ter have more ter convince them, I'm afraid only a few..." Hagrid noticed Harry for the first time. For a long awkward moment, Harry stared at the man. His huge beard taking up a great deal of his face, bits of food still stuck in it. His coat looked as though it were made from a deer, without much actual work put into sewing or cleaning it. Harry could even smell his breath, some odd and bitter stench, from several feet away. His first thoughts were how revolting the man seemed, how lacking his mannerism was. Harry pushed away the thought, he couldn't judge others that way. People judged Sirius by what they read and there was no way he would do anything similar.

Tears started to fill the man's eyes. Before Harry could do anything the man took a huge step across the room and grasped Harry in a hug, completely enveloping him. "It's you." Harry could barely hear from within the confines of the embrace. He squeezed harder, as if he had once lost Harry and now didn't ever want to let him go again. Harry tried to say something, tell the man that being hurt, but no air would come out of his lungs. His whole body hurt, like when he had done the animagus transformation. Dumbledore said something. But Harry couldn't hear it. Another wave of pain, this one much worse then the last and then there was no more. It felt enlightening and he breathed, the huge man let go and Harry slumped of the floor.

"Are you alright Harry?" Asked Dumbledore. Harry didn't know, he hurt- sort of, it was hard to explain. He tried to turn over and get up but for some reason nothing worked. Hagrid started to sob and say he was sorry but Dumbledore smiled calmly and pulled his wand out. "He's fine Hagrid, he wasn't feeling well when he got here and you've just knocked the wind out of him. If you don't mind I'll just take him to the infirmary, I'll be right back."

Hagrid nodded and found a seat on the floor, as none of Dumbledore's chairs were quite big enough. Harry had an odd feeling as he was rose into the air, upright, his legs dragging behind him. The moment the door closed Harry's body moved into a flat position and Dumbledore apologized. "Hagrid has been living with giants for the past several months as an emissary, I'm afraid in that time he forgot how much he needed to control his strength around normal people. I'm truly sorry he hurt you, let's get you to the infirmary and fix you up."

Harry tried to move again, but still felt nothing. It wasn't as if something was holding him back... he just felt nothing, he couldn't move at all. "Dumbledore. I can't move. I can't feel anything." He suppressed the urge to start crying and looked up. The hallways looked different from this perspective, they were the similar, but each had a unique ceiling. He tried to move again, but couldn't he knew his arms were there, that they were supposed to work. But they didn't seem to be there... it was the oddest feeling he had ever had. It was like a ghost, while they were there, they weren't.

"I know Harry. Hagrid broke at least one of the bones in your back." Dumbledore answered a few minutes later. He seemed to not want to say that it had happened.

Harry heard her, but didn't see her. She must have come looking for him to find out what Dumbledore had said about Sirius. "Harry?" Virginia asked. "What happened?"

Harry didn't feel like telling her. Dumbledore didn't mind taking explaining things though. "An unfortunate accident Ms. Weasley. Would you be so kind as to follow us to the infirmary. I suspect the repairs will take some time and be painful. Ms. Granger, you may come as well."

Harry almost laughed, but didn't feel like doing so at the moment. Hermione must have been following Virginia because he could hear Virginia draw a breath when Dumbledore said it, she hadn't known Hermione was there. "I know Poppy will not be happy with me when I bring in two strays, but it is for the best. You two don't mind do you?" Apparently they both were ok with it. "Good, then let's get Harry to the infirmary."

They headed on their way again but Virginia and Hermione dropped back several feet and whispered between themselves. Harry could barely make out pieces of the conversation, but it sounded like an argument.

"Madam Pomfrey?" Virginia asked as they entered the infirmary.

"She's not here at the moment, she's taking care of some business but will be back shortly." Dumbledore said before Virginia could call out again. Please prepare a bed in the corner, I want to perform a spell before Poppy returns." Dumbledore instructed Virginia.

Reality set in for Harry. If it was the truth, if he had broken his back, which was what most likely had happened, then the only way to fix him properly was regrowth. It wouldn't be one vertebrae either, because the bone was more than just a normal bone a great deal of work would have to be done. Each vertebrae would have to be grown from the top down, and Harry wouldn't be able to do anything until the process was complete, he would simply be laying on his stomach for weeks. It was also extremely painful because the process reformed connections to nerves, and each time it did there was pain. Harry shivered, he had been in pain already this month, but this was going to hurt a lot more.

With his limited field of vision Harry was still the first one to notice Madam Pomfrey's return. She walked out of her office and brushed some dust off of her shoulder. The entrance to the secret room Dumbledore had mentioned must have been in the office. Somewhere in that room was the doorway to Sirius.

"Ah, Poppy. I'm afraid we've had an accident. Hagrid's just returned and was a little to eager to greet Harry. Because of how he's been living for the past while he wasn't gentle enough. At the moment Harry seems to be paralyzed. I brought him directly here, but Hagrid's still in my office, I must get back to him and find out what happened."

From his viewpoint he could no longer see Madam Pomfrey but heard her huff under her breath, something about giving Hagrid a potion. Dumbledore walked towards the door but before getting there stopped. "Ah yes, I've brought two stowaway's along, I suspect that Harry will need someone with him while this is happening. It's very painful. Oh, and Poppy, this must be kept a secret. This sort of thing, leaked to the wrong people could be used for the worse and no one would ever trust the giants again. Right now what little relations we have between them now is skewed, I don't want anything happening that might make it worse. That means you too girls, not one word about Harry if you leave. Or about this accident, ever."

"Albus, these girls... if Harry's hurt like you and I think, it will take a great deal of time to repair him."

Dumbledore smiled, his eyes glittering. "Yes I know, but I suspect either of them would be willing to sit through the whole thing if need be." For some reason Harry felt better, like he was warm inside.

"Alright. I suppose I can accommodate them, the new room that was added, we'll move him into it after the initial diagnosis."

And so it started.

For the next week Harry went through the most excruciating pain in his life. Far worse than changing into an animagus. He slowly was able to feel more and more, but each time came more and more pain. He screamed for what seemed like hours. After a part of the process had been completed.

Virginia and Hermione took turns going to class, Hermione was the one that was almost always with him when it hurt the most. When Virginia was there it was almost like she couldn't stand to see Harry hurting, like it was hurting her. When it didn't hurt Virginia would bring pranks to think about, she would show him things her brothers had thought up. Together they would make changes, sometimes to make the prank more intriguing or sometimes more subtle. Harry enjoyed it very much, and so did her older brothers. More and more ideas came while he was there. Many he knew he would never have though of by himself.

While Virginia brought pranks Hermione brought books, schoolwork and papers. Harry couldn't write, but he could think about it and discuss things with Hermione and on occasion Virginia (when she was there). Every time he astounded Hermione with something he already knew, she seemed to think a lot of it shouldn't have been known unless it was read from a book. Harry had already learned a lot of it from living with Sirius, living on the run.

When something happened Hermione would sneak an article in from Daily Prophet. Since the Death Eater attack at Hogsmeade everything had gone bad. There seemed to be no stopping the Death Eaters now that they had started major movements again everyone was scared. They were tricky and devious and above all evil. In two weeks more people died in attacks than had died in the past 5 years claimed the papers. Some articles said Voldemort had been replaced, that someone had fallen into his footsteps. And then there was the article Harry would have burned had he been able to, **_Sirius Black_ **it read, **_The New Dark Lord?_**

The magical community was in a panic and Harry was worried, about everything. He knew that even though the ministry was strong they were already infested by Death Eaters. No matter how hard the ministry tried it would not be able to get rid of the Death Eaters. One particular reporter, Jasper O. Torrance, seemed to have a clear mind about everything. He gave suggestions that Harry thought Sirius might have, things that would help protect against the Death Eaters.

The whole time he was disabled no one was allowed to visit except Hermione and Virginia. He had been moved into a separate room so that no one could see him. Harry understood. He didn't hate Hagrid for hurting him, he knew it was an accident. He knew that before... when Voldemort had reigned, that the giants had almost all been bad. So he decided he would keep it a secret, if Dumbledore sought out the giants for help he knew what he was doing, and Harry would keep out of his way.

When his back was repaired he was still confined to the room. Madam Pomfrey insisted that he stay so she could make sure nothing had gone wrong. So for nearly another week Harry paced around the room. Anytime Madam Pomfrey would enter he would question her about Sirius but she would say nothing.

The night he was released no one was with him. There was some sort of school meeting and neither Hermione nor Virginia could miss it. He pulled on the clothing that had been provided for him and left the infirmary.

As Harry walked down the halls he noticed something different. The castle seemed to be depressing, a silent, sullen feeling reigned. No one had told him anything had happened here, but Harry wondered if maybe Death Eaters had come. The first person he met in the hallways was one of the last people that he felt like dealing with.

Harry knew he was coming, he could hear his hurried footsteps behind. The drawling voice was what confirmed who it was. "Sick for two weeks Potter? Were you just skiving classes or did a potion blow up in your face? Or perhaps.... perhaps you were worried about that mongrel of a godfather who's been seen running about with Death Eaters. You don't think he was really good do you? I mean, he did kill your parents."

"Malfoy," snapped Harry, unable to keep himself silent. "If you don't want to get hurt then you had better leave me be. I don't feel like getting in an argument right now, especially with you.

The reaction was what Malfoy wanted. "Magic in the hallways? You'll not get two feet before you get caught."

Harry just shook his head, continuing towards the Gryffindor common room, Malfoy close behind. Harry rounded a corner and was surprised to find a man standing across from one of the secret tunnels. He didn't move at all and Harry thought he seemed disturbing. "Scared if an Auror Potter? Perhaps you're afraid that you can't use dark magic in the corridors now. Or perhaps you're afraid that your precious Sirius Black might be caught.

For a moment, the Aurors eyes darted to Harry and Malfoy. Harry noticed, but Malfoy didn't. "They're posted though the castle, for our _protection_. Apparently someone thinks that Black may try to sneak into Hogwarts. They know he's come before and they won't let him go again."

Malfoy smirked and then turned down a different path as they continued past the Auror. Harry just ignored him, it was so difficult to think about Sirius being in the castle while the Aurors were waiting for him. He past more guards, each standing back out of view and he almost missed some of them. When he finally came to the entrance to the Gryffindor tower he found that it too had an Auror posted in front of the entrance. None of them made the slightest indication of Harry's presence even though it was late and for a student to be walking down the halls it was odd.

When Harry opened the portrait he didn't even step through the door before he had people in front of him asking questions. There was more than a dozen questions asked before he made it to one of the chairs to sit. "I was sick. No, nothing life threatening. Yes, everything's going back to normal. No, no one was allowed to see me. Yes I've already talked to Dumbledore about the missing class. Yes, I've seen the Aurors. And yes... I know why they're here."

Harry plopped down on the couch and sighed. It was relaxing just to get out of the Infirmary and into the common room. "I'm tired guys, and bored. Tell me something fun you did while I was gone."

No one spoke. "You did do something didn't you?" Still nothing. "You didn't. You didn't pull a single prank in the whole two weeks I was gone? Virginia?" Harry hadn't even thought to ask Virginia if she was actually pulling any of the pranks that she had spoken about.

Virginia looked down, as if she had been chastised. "No."

"Well, let's fix that problem. I want to pull a prank on at least one of those Aurors it's such a perfect setup, and they look so bored. Let's just cheer them up, what do you say?"

"But we can't pull a prank on them we were told specifically to leave them alone." Pointed our Ron immediately.

Harry laughed, as soon as he went away everyone went back to following the rules. "No one ever told me that, and besides you know, rules are made to be broken. You can't just do everything they tell you or life wouldn't be any fun."

Everyone seemed to take the words to heart and no one said anything. "Alright, so someone think of something we can do to them. We don't have to do anything bad, just something to get on their nerves."

"We could color their hair."

"Or change their clothing."

"Why don't we don't we make them see muggles running about."

"I have an idea." Blaise's voice was so soft Harry could barely hear her.

Harry held up his hand. "Quiet. Blaise, what's your idea?"

"Well Mrs. Norris... Filch is gone now and so she's just sort of wandering the castle now. What if we gave her something... life a love potion and made her pester the Aurors. I know it's sort of dumb but...'

"No." Harry said. "It's perfect, but we'll have to wait, I don't have all the ingredients for a love potion that animals can use."

Blaise smiled brightly and so did Harry. Everyone seemed to agree that it was a good idea. Harry tried to get them to let him go. He had to go to the library and research love potions. Sirius knew a good deal about love potions, but he had told Harry that those were things he shouldn't learn until later on and Sirius wasn't one to teach them.

As Harry maneuvered away while everyone was discussing it Hermione whispered in his ear. "I know some Love potions, I saw some in the library. Just something mild that would work fine for Mrs. Norris. Harry nodded, his Saturday was already taken up. "I'll be back guys, I have to check what we have and need." Everyone nodded except for Virginia who followed Harry out.

"You do have the right stuff don't you, you just don't know how to make it right?" She asked once they had gotten out of the range of the Auror. Harry nodded and Virginia nodded to herself. Harry just kept walking, thinking, fearing what might happen if Sirius got out, what they might do to him. Behind him the two girls walked behind, chatting about something that Harry really didn't feel like listening to.

The reached the library and Hermione found the book right away. After only a few minutes of reading about it Harry felt confident he could do it. Virginia suggested they write it down and Hermione jotted notes down quickly. Harry decided to make it right away, even if he had told everyone tomorrow, there would be no harm in getting it done tonight. He could tell them that he did have the ingredients and just didn't know. If they decided to use it tonight then all the better.

"You're sure this will work on Mrs. Norris right?" Harry asked as they walked down the hallway.

Hermione nodded. "Where are we going anyway?"

"That place. The one you don't know about yet. You'll find out soon enough." Harry skipped ahead a bit and turned around, walking backwards. "You do want to see it don't you?"

Hermione nodded. Of course she wanted to see it, everyone wanted in on secrets. "Good, then just make sure you get this potion right. The book said if we don't then it may not be good."

"It's only a simple potion, any first year could do it."

Virginia laughed. "I don't think Ron those two thugs that follow Malfoy around could, they seem to have a tendency to blow things up."

"Sirius told me once that even the simplest of things can go wrong, and when they do, they're not always simple anymore."

Harry could see that just down the hallway was Birdie, talking to an Auror. "I'll be right back Virginia, you know where it is, wait for me if I'm not already there when you get there. I wont be long I promise."

The girls nodded and Harry walked down the hallway to talk with Birdie. She wasn't in a very good mood when he got there. She was lecturing the Auror who was standing there. Harry caught the tale end of the conversation and it wasn't pretty. The guy, obviously much older than Birdie must have made a pass at her.

When she was finished she smiled politely at Harry and put her arm around him. "_You _haven't been around for a while, I've been waiting for you. I wanted to ask you something about Sirius."

"He's not here."

She winked. "Oh, of course he's not, but that's not what I was going to ask. From what I understand he was injured in the fight at Hogsmeade. Is he still hurt from that fight?"

Harry shrugged, he didn't know. "I don't know. I don't know what's happening with him, no one will tell me."

"I see. He was injured though, wasn't he?"

Harry nodded. "It was worse than anything I've ever seen. Someone was trying to kill him. Why do you want to know?"

"Innocence. I'm trying to find some proof that he is innocent. I believe you, really I do, it's just some people aren't as easy to convince as I am. If I can convince some of them I might be able to get more help."

At least she was trying. "Like Remus?"

"Oh, I've tried. If I can convince him I can convince anyone. I think hates Sirius more than he loves anything in this world. It's bad to have more hate than love."

Harry, remembering he had to get back to Virginia and Hermione just laughed inwardly. "You know, you should tell him you care for him."

"But I..."

"Don't? If you can truthfully tell me you don't love him – why I'd... I'd try and wrestle a dragon if it weren't true."

"You couldn't wrestle a dragon."

"And you're in love with him. Don't say you aren't. Every time you say something about him you get into a dreamy state. It's strange that love can do that to you isn't it." Why don't you just tell him and get it over with."

"Just tell him? Have you ever tried to tell Remus something that he doesn't want to hear? He doesn't hear it, no matter how loud you are."

Harry nodded, he understood. He had tried to tell him that Sirius was innocent. Sirius was the same way, if it wasn't something he wanted to hear it wasn't said, and he never heard it. "I tried to tell him that Sirius was innocent."

"Oh yes, well you understand what I'm trying to say. I don't know if it's me he doesn't like, or if he can't accept someone being in love with him. No matter how hard I try he wont listen, and you can't tell someone that you love them if they wont even listen to it, it's not easy at all."

"So you've never actually said it?" Harry grinned.

"No. If anything in a conversation leads that direction he just ignores it all or leaves."

"Then tell him when he is listening, when he doesn't expect it. He'll be listening then." Harry wasn't sure exactly what he was saying, it was like asking a muggle how to play Quidditch. He didn't know, he had never experienced love, he was only 11. "I don't know if it will work, but it's worth a try isn't it?"

Birdie was trying to talk herself into it. "But what if he doesn't like me, what if he hates me for it?"

"Do you always think so negatively?"

Birdie threw up her hands. "Do you always have to know the answer to everything?" Then she turned around and marched off in the other direction.

Harry hoped she would tell him, more for his own reasons. If She did Remus might get caught up in something other than Sirius. When Harry finally came to the mirror Virginia and Hermione were not there. Padfoots shadow appeared and Harry asked if they were inside. Reluctantly he nodded. "She's feisty, that girl. She's even worse than Lilly. It's no wonder you like her."

"She's my friend. Will you let me in now?"

"Just go on in, it's not like it's going to matter now..." and then he disappeared. Harry wondered what he had meant but placed his hand on the mirror and disappeared through it.

When he reached the other side Virginia clamped her hand over his mouth before he could say anything. "Shhh!" she whispered fiercely. "Someone's here."

Harry looked over at the bed and sure enough, someone was lying there, resting. "Who?"

Hermione shrugged her shoulders. "We were waiting to see if maybe someone else knew how to get in here. Ginny said that you told here she was the only one to know at school."

"I thought she was." Harry got a little angry. She was supposed to be the only person that knew. This place had been Sirius's and he had told Harry that it was his once he went to Hogwarts. So, it was his, and he was the one that was supposed to let people know about it if he thought the deserved to come in. Harry pulled out his wand and walked over to the bed, Hermione and Virginia following close behind.

At the edge of the bed he faltered, the person in the bed couldn't be a student. He moved in his sleep and Harry saw part of his face. No, it wasn't a student and it wasn't a teacher. "Sirius?" he whispered.

For a long moment, he felt himself get ready to cry. Sirius was right in front of him, alive. Then he thought about it, Sirius wasn't awake (which he should have been the moment Virginia or Hermione entered) He didn't look too well, his face was still slightly pale.

"It's alright, it's just Sirius." He turned to the two girls. "Let's get on with this, he must be tired, and I don't want to wake him. Alright?"

Virginia nodded but Hermione didn't, she just stared at Sirius. It must have been a shock for her to see the man that everyone talked about. It was the first time she had ever seen the normal Sirius. Harry put his mind to other things and pulled down all the ingredients for the potion. He didn't want to think about why Sirius was there and why he hadn't woken up while they were in the room. It was not something Sirius ever did.

"Hermione, I need to know what goes next."

Hermione had not been paying very much attention to Harry or the potion. Virginia had been watching but seemed tired and so she did it from a nearby chair. "Is it Raccine or Ma Hung? I'm not sure which, I've never made it before."

Hermione thought for a moment, but didn't pull out the list. "Ma Hung. It's poisonous and the process filters it out before the Raccine is added."

Harry nodded and added the chopped Ma Hung. For some reason what Hermione had said didn't sound quite right, but he also trusted Hermione's memory more than his own at the moment. Within the hour the potion was finished. Sirius was still asleep and Harry decided against his better judgment to stay. He need to talk to Sirius, he needed to know that everything was alright, that Sirius knew about the Aurors.

"Are you sure?" Virginia asked when Harry told her.

"Yes, go on, tell everyone to go ahead without me. I need to stay here. You can tell me all about it when I get back, Alright?"

Hermione nodded. Virginia glanced at the bed. "Tell him I hope he gets better, I don't like seeing you sad."

Harry smiled. "I'm happy now."

"You're not, I can feel it."

Of course she was right, but Harry would never admit it, even to her. It was difficult, always worrying about others."

For a very long hour Harry sat, just thinking about things. He thought about choices that could have been better made. He thought about friends he might have had. He thought about his parents, something he hadn't done in a long time. When he was younger he had spoken to them in his imagination. His father had always encouraged him to keep on going, no matter how hard life had gotten. It was his mother who had sung songs to him while he was little.

"You didn't leave with them?" Harry looked up to find Sirius now staring at him across the room. "You didn't stay here for the food did you, I have precious little left."

"You're always too playful Sirius. I can get you more food. I could have gotten you more if you would have let me know. It wouldn't have been difficult at all."

Sirius sat up, obviously still in pain. "I didn't want to worry you or any of the others. I didn't tell anyone I was leaving, I snuck out and left a note saying it was not safe for me to stay."

Of course, that was why no one had mentioned Sirius, they hadn't known. "How did you know about Virginia and Hermione?"

Sirius nodded towards the mirror that was the entrance. "He told me you have brought Ginny. When I saw Hermione come in I knew you must be close behind. I had told him not to let anyone in but James was always able to convince him otherwise. He was the only one that could do it, he could talk himself into or out of anywhere."

"Virginia talked her way in, I wasn't even around. I was talking to Birdie down the next hall."

A sly grin lit his face. "I always did like strong woman. Oh well, you trust her, I trust her and now I guess she gets in even without you. I always assumed you could get in because you were so much like James. Though," Sirius grinned even brighter, "his love life didn't start until 3rd year." Slowly Sirius crawled out of bed, going to a nearby cabinet and pulling out some food. "I never told you this, but the way you acted when you were younger, you acted so much different from James... I thought, I hoped you might be different."

"Why?" Harry inquired. "You always told such fantastic stories about you and my father, even before Hogwarts."

"Yes, but to think back now about what might have happened if something had gone wrong. It frightens me to think what might go wrong in the future, when you try to do something that gets out of hand. We did have some close calls." Sirius sighed and sat back down. "I tried to keep your father out of you. I even thought I had until the incident at the cabin. When I saw you that day at the Weasley's for a moment I saw your father, in a costume. You have his looks, though the scar is different and the hair is a bit off, but there's something more. You've got his ego, his brains, his whit, if it were 15 years ago you might very well pass for James. Anyway... what were you in here for anyway, making a potion for something?"

Time was still for a moment, Sirius never spoke like he just had. Harry was spooked, maybe he was dying. "You're going to live right Sirius?" Harry asked quickly.

"No, no, I'm just a little influenced. I made myself some potions, they cloud my head a bit. So?"

"Prank. Yes, Blaise came up with this fantastic idea to play games with the..." Harry faltered for a second, wondering if Sirius knew about the Aurors.

"Blaise? The quiet girl, the one who stays paired with Neville?" Sirius looked as though he were struggling to remember.

"And Ron too, they're all my friends."

"Yes, you already have a little crowd. So, anyway, what's this prank and who are you planning on teasing?"

Harry looked away, but knew he had already given Sirius too much by just doing that. When he looked back at Sirius he could tell.

"You know what happened to Filch?" Sirius nodded gravely as he ate a piece of a cookie. "Well Mrs. Norris is still around. So Blaise thought up a good use for her. Now that she isn't catching students out of line Blaise suggested we make a Love potion, give it to her and then send her off to bug one of the Aurors in the castle."

"Aurors?" Sirius' eyes opened and looked about for a moment. "Remus is here too isn't he? I knew it! Remus followed me. I thought he would. You need to get out of here, you can't be around if he gets in, It'll be difficult."

"No!" Harry got angry. "You're in no shape to protect yourself. It if comes to that I'll protect you, I've done it before."

It was Sirius's turn to look away. "Yes, I remember. You've saved me more than once. I know you're strong, that you could duel with most wizards and win. I think you would be able to stop him if it wasn't just magic. But they don't duel, and they don't fight fair. I don't think you could win with Remus."

"Then teach me, show me how to win, I can learn." Harry wondered what Sirius was keeping from him, he didn't do it often.

"Harry, you're not physically mature enough. You'd have to fight physically as well as magically, and you're not disciplined enough."

But it was possible. "I can train, I can work on it, I can become disciplined."

"No, Harry I'll do what I can, you don't need to be here."

Harry didn't hear what Sirius has said very well because he was distracted. Something had darted by the outside mirror far quicker than a person could run. Just moments later Ron and Blaise ran past as well, chasing whatever it was that had passed by. Harry laughed and walked over to the mirror, they seemed to be trying to capture Mrs. Norris. But whatever had passed by was far to big to be a cat, it easily took up a good portion of the hallway.

"What is it Harry?" Sirius asked.

"I think Mrs. Norris might be a handful, and more than they can handle. She might be hungry but everyone's been teasing her since Filch's been gone. Hermione told me earlier, I think she feels sorry for her."

"Why don't you go help them, you did brew the potion."

Harry watched as Virginia and Hermione scrambled past the mirror and then stopped, waiving and yelling. "Sirius, I think something's gone wrong, they're trying to get me to come out."

"What love potion did you use?"

Harry thought for a moment. "I think Hermione called it crea amor."

"With Raccine right?" Harry nodded. "Did you make sure to chop the Ma Hung to the correct size? Yes, you would have... let's see. You mix... and then you... hmm. Did you put the Ma Hung in before the Raccine or after?"

"Before. Hermione said the Ma Hung was poisonous and needed to be filtered out."

"Well there's your problem. Raccine is poisonous, not Ma Hung. The potion might be deadly, or it might be really strong with different ending qualities. It might have done something to hurt Mrs. Norris. You'd better go, I'd go but I'm not in the shape to. Go, now!"

Harry nodded and exited quickly. Hermione wasn't anywhere near the mirror anymore, she was way down the hallway, helping Blaise who was laying on the floor.

"Harry something went wrong, when we gave the potion to the cat she changed." Virginia said. Harry could see she wasn't in the best of shape, her cloak torn in several spots and she was bleeding from a wound on her arm.

"What happened exactly? What did Mrs. Norris do?"

"She drank the potion and I picked her up. I was taking her down to the nearest Auror and she started to get bigger, so I put her down. The next thing I know she pounced on me and slashed at me. Neville tried to stop her, but it didn't work bery well. He's all cut up. Mrs. Norris attacked the Auror down the hall too. I... he got hurt bad. I don't know what happened. I just... Ron's after her and he's going to get hurt too."

Harry sat her down. "Just sit for a minute, let yourself rest. I'll catch up with Ron." Harry hurried down the hall and checked on Blaise who was unconscious. Hermione explained that Mrs. Norris had attacked her from the side and knocked her against the wall. She also said that Mrs. Norris was now the size of a very large dog." Harry ran as fast as he could down the hallway to were Ron and Mrs. Norris had done. Mrs. Norris was headed right towards the entrance of the Hufflepuffs common room.

Down the hallway Harry found Ron, unconscious as well, A nasty cut ran down the side of his face. Harry woke him up and sent him back down the hallway towards Hermione and Virginia.

Knowing the hallway ended just around the corner. Harry slowed, preparing himself. Yes, just in front of the Hufflepuff night that protected the entrance Mrs. Norris stood. She seemed to be waiting for the curtain to open. Before Harry could distract her the door did open and two young Hufflepuffs walked out, right towards Mrs. Norris. Harry did the only thing he could, yelling at the top of his lungs and sending Mrs. Norris flying. Mrs. Norris recovered in mid-air and the moment she touched the ground pounced back towards the two confused Hufflepuffs who still stood in the doorway.

"Move!" Yelled Harry as he ran towards them. They seemed to be too stunned to hear him and Mrs. Norris jumped through the opening, knocking them to the ground Harry slipped into the closing curtain and already saw Mrs. Norris had done damage. Several Hufflepuffs were lying sprawled out on the floor, having been in the way of Mrs. Norris. Harry sent a stunning hex towards Mrs. Norris but she seemed to know what was going on and easily dodged it. More people appeared at the doorways to hear what all the fuss was about. The doors opened and the closed all around the room. Mrs. Norris continued her rampage of the room, knocking student after student down when they couldn't get out of the way quick enough. She seemed to be searching for something or someone.

Harry finally succeeded in partially striking Mrs. Norris with a stunning spell, but it only served to anger her more. While she did slow down for a moment she was nowhere near unconscious. The spell did get several of the Hufflepuffs to rally behind him. One of them, a 4th or 5th year stepped up next to Harry and sent to same stunning curse off towards Mrs. Norris. When Harry saw that he was able to do this he was somewhat startled. It was an advanced curse that Sirius had learned form the Aurors.

Before he could ask he was distracted when Mrs. Norris pounced towards one of the other students. "Get behind us!" Harry yelled. Everyone who was still standing seemed to understand he could protect them somewhat and rushed behind them.

Harry glanced over to the boy standing beside him. "Can you get to the door if I help keep that from getting to you?" The boy nodded. "Good, I want you to help get everyone out. It's hard to protect them too."

"Now?" the boy asked.

"Not yet, just wait until I can distract her." One of the doors opened and a head peaked out. When it slammed shut only a few seconds later Mrs. Norris's was distracted.

"Now." The boy dashed over to the door and Harry sent a curse towards Mrs. Norris, keeping her distracted. Once the boy had the door opened he turned back around and prepared his wand. "It's done."

"Everyone, I'm going to get that thing to chase me, you all get out that door, make sure no one gets left." Harry looked at Mrs. Norris. "This is going to hurt just a little. As soon as I run everyone go to the door."

Harry took a deep breath and concentrated. "_electrica interficere_."

The room sparked and crackled as the power built up. A very powerful bolt of energy shot out of his wand, several smaller bolts arching off of it. Mrs. Norris tried to dodge but the hex was far too quick and struck her full on. She stopped for a moment, but not long enough for Harry to shoot another curse. Instead he darted away from the door.

Mrs. Norris turned to him, visibly angry. Harry headed for the stairs, trying to get above her, the only upper hand he might be able to get. Over and over Harry was forced to change course, keeping away from Mrs. Norris. IT was hard, people were laying on the ground of the common room and he had to dodge them constantly. He finally made it to the stairs and promptly tripped over the first step.

Knowing Mrs. Norris must be right behind him he rolled, trying his bets to avoid the coming attack. When none came he turned, surprised. Just behind him Mrs. Norris was laying sprawled out on the ground. Behind her, halfway between the stairs and the door was the blond boy who had helped earlier. The look he gave off was off utter surprise.

"Thanks." said Harry as he tried to stand up, but failed miserably. His ankle must have been twisted, and easy fix.

"That was absolutely brilliant." Said the boy. "That attack was more powerful than anything I've ever seen. It was just... wow."

Harry touched his ankle and whispered a healing charm. It worked, and he tried to stand again. The boy rushed over and helped Harry up. "I didn't kill it did I?"

Harry shook his head. "No, it's just a very strong stun. It'll stop anything short of a dragon. But I don't understand, you mean you've never used that hex before? How did you do it?" Harry found a seat, wanting to sit and relax for a minute before he tried to explain what had happened.

"I saw you do it and it didn't look so hard so I tried it. I have a making things seem to easy. By the way, my name is Cedric."

Harry smiled. "Well hello Cedric, my name is..."

"Harry Potter. I know who you are."

Off to the side Mrs. Norris shuddered and Harry whipped out his wand and enclosed her within a cage so that if she did wake up she would not be able to escape. "Sorry about this, it wasn't suppose to happen like this at all. I mixed the potion wrong and she became... like this." Then he remembered Virginia would probably be waiting outside already. "Cedric, could you open the door, I have a friend who's probably waiting."

Sure enough, Virginia was standing just outside the door impatiently. "Good job Harry. I was hoping you would catch her."

"I didn't do... Cedric did it." He pointed to Cedric.

Cedric shook his head. "Not really, I just helped a bit, Harry did the real work."

"You knocked Mrs. Norris out?" Asked Virginia.

"Yeah but... that was Mrs. Norris!?"

Virginia nodded. "The love potion didn't seem to work, I think we did something wrong."

Harry stood up and limped slightly across the room. He looked around, the whole room was in shambles. "Virginia, did you go get help?"

Cedric was still standing disbelieving at Mrs. Norris. Virginia patted him on the back. "It's over now. Yes Harry, they'll be here shortly. I think we should go though, the Auror that..."

"Black!" Harry heard Remus on the other side of the door. "Sirius Black!" said Remus as he rushed through the door. "You?!" For just a moment he seemed confused, then understood. He bore down on Harry. "Where is he hiding. It's in that room isn't it? That blasted shadow wont let me in. I'll have to open it by force then."

• Edited 2004.09.18 •


	17. Truths Revealed

Chapter 17

• Truths Revealed •

"No!!!" Harry yelled just outside the Hufflepuff common room.

Immediately he quieted, Virginia and Cedric were just inside helping the other Hufflepuffs who had been hurt because of Mrs. Norris. Harry could here them even now, Virginia was scolding Cedric for not knowing how to do something. Had it been some other time Harry might've laughed.

"Remus, please don't do that."

The glint in Remus' eye said more than he could say out loud. Remus planned on getting into that room now that he knew Sirius was in there. There was no way anyone or anything would be able to stop him. If he did open it up he would ruin it all and Sirius might get hurt. Harry sighed, it didn't matter now with or without Harry he would get in. "Alright, I'll take you and you alone. You don't tell anyone else and you go now. Alright?" It was best to get him to go now when he wasn't fully prepared.

Remus nodded. "Agreed."

With a slow pace Harry started forward. He nearly cried, thinking about what would happen to Sirius. But he wouldn't let himself, there was still time, still things that could go right or wrong. He needed to prepare himself. So silently he contemplate what might happen.

"Don't try anything." Remus growled, the hallway echoing the words faintly. "I know what you're thinking about and it won't work so there is not point of thinking it." Harry's shoulders dropped and he winced. He should have known better, he was being far too obvious about it.

"He didn't do it Remus, it was Peter." It was a stupid thing to say, it would only anger him more, but it was the only thing he could say.

For a moment Harry thought perhaps it had worked. "That's for me to determine." Remus growled again and Harry's hopes died again.

Harry pushed again, this was his only chance to get it out. Remus was with him and would stay with him for the next few minutes. No matter how much he tried to ignore he would still hear. "You won't be able to, you can't control yourself when you're around him, I know, I remember."

Harry thought back, he could remember things very well, it was what he prided himself in. "I apparated for the first time. That's how you found out where we were. Sirius didn't know about it then and so he was caught completely by surprise when you came in. He wand was lying on the other side of the room and he didn't have time to get to it that's why you were able to capture him. You petrified him and after you were done another man, you called him Job, dragged Sirius into the other room so I couldn't see him. Someone else stunned me when I tried to get to Sirius but it didn't work well. When everyone was gone I used a wand and I stunned the person who was guarding me."

Harry cringed, waiting for an attack to come when he paused. Remus seemed to be listening for the first time so Harry hurried to continue for the few moments he had his attention. "Sirius was only half conscious and caged, that's why no one was standing guard. I couldn't get to him so I just made the cage go away and then de-petrified him. I gave him the wands and we snuck out before anyone could stop us." Harry stopped once more to breathe again, he had said it fast trying to get it all out, here would come the part that would get the best or worst reception from Remus.

"I saw what you did to him Remus. He was barely conscious when I first came in. That was why no one was guarding him. He didn't fight, you just hurt him. The whole in the wall, the cuts that were all over him... You broke his left arm in two places and he had to wait until the next day to fix them. He still has the scars to prove it. You did that to him when he wasn't able to defend himself. What would you do if he tried to fight back Remus? You can't control your temper around him can you?" Harry said fiercely, he wanted what he said to go deep, not be something Remus could just ignore.

Harry turned around and found Remus had stopped and was staring at him, bewildered. "You couldn't have possibly done that. I caged him with an unbreakable charm and how could a child have stunned one of us, you were only six."

"Five, I was still five. I was doing magic when I was five Remus. Sirius didn't show me either, I taught myself. I could do a lot of things by then. I didn't break the cage with any magic though, I just told it to go away and it did. Remus... Sirius didn't want me to learn magic, when I rescued him it surprised him as much as it surprised you now. At first he even wanted to stay and try to convince you of the truth but I told him he couldn't." Hope returned and Harry believed his words might have had just the right effect.

"You couldn't have possibly don't those things, any of them. No..."

Harry stared right into his eyes. "You can tell if I'm lying."

"No." Remus shook his head, trying to make something go away that was gnawing at him. "No... no, no, no..." His eyes shut and he took a deep breath. "It had to be him, he was the only one who knew everything. He helped them prepare for the spell. They told Dumbledore he was the secret keeper. He was the one that told them not to trust me."

"Sirius did it because he was afraid he would give them up. He was afraid for himself as much as he was afraid for them. He thought if it was changed to someone else then if he died people would give up looking for my parents."

"...but he would've told Dumbledore."

"Why? No one else needed to know. If someone had to know in the future, even Dumbledore, Sirius could direct them to Peter. The less people who knew in the long run the less likely someone would find out. None of you told him about your animagus abilities, you still haven't. You've never told Dumbledore about those nights that you snuck out did you? Sirius wanted James and Lilly as safe as possible. They all made the decision not to tell anyone, I'm not lying I've seen it."

At the last moment Remus shook his head again. "Take me to him now." He demanded.

Harry could see that he had not won, that the brief moment Remus had let his guard down was not long enough. The tone he had used and the flicker in his eyes made Harry wary. He did not dare anger Remus more. Sirius had once told him about angering a werewolf, citing an example of when he had under the influence of a potion. Sirius had ended the story by showing Harry a faint scar that ran from under his arm clear down to his knee. He claimed during the whole time the fight lasted he had only got a single swing in.

Harry saw every warning sign Sirius had told him about: the tensing in his shoulders, the narrowing of his eyes, the tiny shudders that passed through him. There were more, some not so obvious, but they were there. So Harry began his grueling walk towards the mirror again.

"It's only your fault! You brought him here!" The shadow in the mirror yelled, not worrying who else might hear. "You betrayed him, you betrayed me." Harry's mind reeled from the accusation and he immediately turned to run, to get as far away as possible. He did feel ashamed, he did feel as if he had betrayed them even though he had no other options. Before he could take a second step he was lifted several feet off of the ground. "Do not try that again." Remus said angrily.

"Remus! Put him down!" Birdie came from down the hall, neither Harry nor Remus had noticed her until she had spoken. "Look at you, you're going to hurt him. Drop him now."

Remus slowly lowered him and at the same time Harry felt his head fill with blood again. Once Harry's feet were on the ground he tried to move away but Remus' grip just tightened. "Don't you dare run." He whispered, too softly for a normal person to hear. He obviously had discovered Harry had animagus abilities.

"Remus what are you doing? Why did you leave the scene? You're ignoring the rules and you're going to get into a lot of trouble."

"I'm not an Auror! I'll never be one. Just because I have a single assignment doesn't mean I'll ever be able to do anything else. Don't you dare lecture me on rules that don't apply to me." Remus bellowed. He wasn't acting normal at all, even for a person with lycanthropy. "I am going to kill Sirius Black if it's the last thing I do!"

At that moment Harry knew something was wrong with Remus. He would never kill Sirius, he might want him to be judged and sent to Azkaban or even get the Dementors kiss, but he would never kill him himself. Slowly things formed in Harry's mind, the pure rage that he had never experienced, the slow increase of aggression towards Sirius as the years had passed. His sole dedication to capturing Sirius.

Birdie didn't see it right away, she was confused and angry as well. "You'll go to Azkaban! The Minister of Magic said he wanted Sirius Black to come to him alive, at nearly all cost short of death. The penalty for killing him is Azkaban, you know that."

The grip on Harry didn't loosen at all but Harry felt better. Someone was fighting for Sirius, someone had influenced the Minister. "Remus if you kill Black you'll be no better that a Death Eater. That's all you'll be." Her accusation was enough for Remus to loose his tightened grip and Harry wriggled himself free. He stepped behind Birdie, nursing his shoulder while staying out of reach. Beyond Remus Harry saw that the Padfoot had disappeared from the mirror, hopefully to warn Sirius.

Remus was torn, he seemed to be fighting himself in his mind. Birdie took a step forward, speaking softly. "Just calm down Remus, everything will be alright." She took another step, getting away from Harry. "Talk to me Remus."

When she took her third step Harry determined that it was best to warn her. "Birdie he's angry. You may not want to do that."

"It's alright."

"No, it's not. It's not just that he's angry, you don't understand. He'll do things..."

"I already know, I figured it out now long after I met you. She smiled, removing his hand from her cloak. "I'm ready for what might happen, don't worry. Go on down the hall a bit, I want to talk to him alone."

Still she continued forward. Harry stepped away, he would have to go further than he would allow if she really wanted privacy, but she didn't know that. Sirius was only on the other side of the wall. If Remus did decide to try and get to Sirius again the wall wouldn't stop him, Harry would be the only thing that might stand in the way. He heard their voices carry down the hall but he chose to ignore them.

The shrill scream did catch Harry's attention and he looked up. Birdie was pinned against the wall, Remus holding her by the throat and in his other hand holding her wand. Harry pulled his own wand out and ran as quickly as possible towards her. Before he reached her something happened. Remus dropped her again, and then dropped to his knees, clutching his head. Whatever the potion or hex that had been used on him still hadn't taken him completely, he was fighting it.

For several long moments Birdie and Harry watched Remus until he finally fell to the floor. "What did you do to him Birdie?" Harry asked, wondering out loud.

"I... I didn't do anything. I told him I loved him and he grabbed me. Then he just..."

"Fainted dead away. Do we know why though, are you sure he didn't say anything else?"

Birdie got down on her knees and looked up at Harry before she examined Remus. "Sorry. He said he was sorry before he grabbed me. It was almost like he couldn't help it."

Harry looked at Remus and then to the mirror. "Birdie, Madam Pomfrey should be in, she'll be able to help him. Take him there, I'll come in just a minute." Birdie accepted his instructions and Harry watched as she rushed down the hall with Remus levitating in front of her.

•

"Sirius! Padfoot!" Harry kicked the mirror. "Padfoot I have to get in right now. Remus is gone. Damnit let me in." Harry kicked it again for about the eleventh time. Remus was sick, something was causing it, something unnatural. It had to be the reason he was so single minded about Sirius, why he chased him so relentlessly. Harry leaned against the wall and slowly knocked his head against the mirror, the hate he had once had for Remus crumbling away. He had never told Sirius about it but he hated Remus for making them move so often when he was younger, he hated Remus because he wouldn't believe Sirius.

The mirror gave way and Harry knew he had ported through to the other side. He was leaning to far forward though and he found himself falling forward. After picking himself up he found Sirius was standing next to the mirror grinning. "Can't you be serious for even a minute? Don't you realize how close you are to being captured?"

Sirius shook his head. "Not anymore. I was the reason Remus fainted. I wanted to see if a certain spell had been cast on him and it has. I know why Remus is trying to kill me, I can prove it."

"No, you can't, you'd get caught before you made it to Remus. There are bound to be dozens of Aurors after what happened with the other Aurors and Mrs. Norris. Remus being unconscious for some unknown reason wont help either."

The grin that spread across Sirius' face said too much. "That's why you're going to cast another spell on him. I know the spell because I was the one that found it. The only people that no the spell were Moony, James, Peter and I. It was in a hand-printed book we found in the library and after we figured out what it was we made sure it was put away in the safest place possible. When Peter cast that spell he was signing his life away to getting rid of me. All you have to do is perform a short ritual and a spell and Remus will know the truth. After that it's only a matter of time."

What Sirius was saying sounded completely absurd but it was a chance and Sirius believed it so Harry did to. "Alright, what do I do?"

"You have to go quickly, the spell I performed is part of the ritual and it can only be done once..." Sirius set about explaining how to complete the ritual.

•

_"_I have to talk to him Birdie, now."

Her only response was to shake her head. "They already sealed off the room. I can't get in, they won't let anyone in."

For a moment Harry closed his eyes trying to come up with a way to get himself into the room. When he opened his eyes again he was staring at Dumbledore who had somehow appeared in the far corner of the room.

"There is always a way Ms. Wiggin. Don't ever doubt that." Dumbledore smiled brightly. "Tell me Harry, what is it that you must do so quickly?"

Birdie was as surprised as Harry was that Dumbledore was there. "A spell. Remus is under a curse that took peters hate for Sirius and multiplied it. That's what we think anyway. Sirius is sure of it. He sent me here to finish a ritual that will help Remus know the truth."

"I know the spell. It's in a book in my private library." He paused for thought. "Yes, it was James who brought it to me. I do not know how such a book came to be in the Hogwarts Library but it is a good thing that it was brought to me when it was discovered." Dumbledore smiled. "The spell is a double edged sword, it is quite effective but can be devastating to the caster should someone become aware of what's happening and put a stop to it. I will be back momentarily." He added to the end and then disappeared again.

Neither Harry nor Birdie could tell it was he had done, he hadn't apparated. "I don't understand, there are barriers that shouldn't allow such things to happen here, he can't just disappear like that."

"There are ways around it. Sirius told me a few but it's usually easier to just walk most of the time. If my dad and Sirius could figure ways out I'm sure Dumbledore knows more of them. I wonder how long..."

The last few words were not needed. The door to the infirmary opened and Dumbledore walked through, smiling brighter than before. "So many things have happened today. It is a good day to live." He looked over at Birdie. "I trust you've chosen sides then?"

Birdie clutched her pendant and then a moment later nodded. "You were right how nefarious things have become."

Nothing else was said but Dumbledore understood completely what she had meant. Harry made a note to find out what she meant by that, he had his suspicions but right now that was not his focus.

"Now wait for a few moments, I must prepare the spell." Dumbledore's hands came to life and his wand jumped into the air, moving around quickly. He took a deep breathe a said the spell, "_Pigrum Tempor_" and he swirled his wand. Nothing came from it but as it finished its loop everything seemed to grow hazy and there was a stillness that was so unlife like it was chilling. Dumbledore had disappeared yet again. Harry looked around but there was no movement.

Then it changed, the haze that seemed to be over everything went away. Harry felt as if you had just fallen from the astronomy tower. It didn't hurt, it just was a sudden wrenching feeling. Dumbledore was walking away from him when Harry opened his eyes. Just beyond him, miraculously lying on the bed, was Remus.

"Perform the spell now, it's difficult for me to hold this spell for much longer with this many people. I want to return him so that they don't know what has happened. Hurry now."

It was absurd, Harry was expected to perform the spell the first time and get it perfect. He may be good but he did not believe he was that good. Sirius hadn't even showed him and he had explained it well, but still kept it vague at points. Harry thought perhaps he had never actually done it and therefore didn't know exactly what had happened.

"I'll try."

Dumbledore didn't seem to like his half-ass attitude. "No, you'll do it." He said softly.

In the few moments he approached Remus Harry went over the steps a dozen times, questioning himself, wondering if he would be able to do it without even seeing it done right. He situated himself properly and raised his wand. He followed the ritual exactly and then performed the spell. It took less than a minute but it seemed to be much longer. Remus' eyes fluttered but they stopped again, his body became still.

"I will be back in a moment."

The world became hazy again, and everything became darker as if it had all fallen into shadows. Remus disappeared, but Harry saw it happen even if for only a moment. His body seemed to stretch in an instant from his bed to the other side of the room and then he disappeared altogether when Harry blinked.

Around him Harry noticed the temperature had dropped dramatically and the air tasted stale when he took a deep breath. He turned to Birdie to see what she thought of what was happening but she did not move at all. Harry stared at her, unblinking and noticed that she did move, ever so slowly. Her hand was reaching for her wand but it was barely noticeable. Harry reached over and plucked it out of her holster and then moved to the side of the room, near the window. Outside everything seemed normal, some first years were dashing about on broomsticks while Madam Hooch yelled at them.

As he turned back things blurred and then returned to normal. Birdie's hand swished as the air moved around it. Aurors were trained to go for there wands fast, very fast. "Where did??? Harry... My wand... Harry! Harry?"

She finally asked puzzled. She was staring at him now from across the room. "How did you get over..."

"Quiet Ms. Wiggin. We need to be discreet at this moment. Please leave the room, I will take care of the minor details. I'll be returning to my office shortly. Remus is fine now, don't fret."

Harry was outside the room before he decided to turn around. He needed to know something, right away. Birdie caught him however. "He knows what he's doing. If you want to speak with him he said he'll be in his office."

Everything that had happened seemed to have gone right, but Harry still didn't feel good. He hoped the spell had worked. Harry handed Birdie her wand and then walked down the hall. He would go to Dumbledore's office, but he planned on talking to Sirius first.

"You didn't know did you? You'd never actually performed the spell."

Sirius looked at Harry glumly. "Then it didn't work?"

For a brief moment Harry wanted to tease Sirius about it, give him a hard time just like he had always done. The moment passed and Harry shook his head. "I don't know. I think it did. Dumbledore snuck him out of the office using some sort of time spell. I performed the spell and then he put him back. I don't know exactly what else happened, he told me to leave. Now that we have time explain to me exactly what the spell did."

"It released him from the single thought. He'll know what happened to, I do hope he doesn't hurt Peter, we'll need him to help make sure I get a free and clear of all of the allegations. Remus will be able to remember things that only Peter would know, thoughts and feelings, even memories. It will only be the ones that relate to me at first, but he'll remember more. I don't really want to do this to him but it was the only way he could be released."

That was why Dumbledore was so secretive, why he didn't want them to know he had taken Peter. "He'll remember other things, like plans on Voldemort's or places and people?"

Sirius nodded, surprised. "You're not suggesting..."

"No. I think Dumbledore wants to do that though. He didn't want anyone to know that the spell had happened. Birdie doesn't even know exactly what it is that happened, he just told her Remus would be ok. I'm going there now, I'm going to talk to him, do you want me to bring anything the next time I come?"

Of course he did. "Food, and some of the latest news, I want to know what's happening."

Harry hurried down the hallway, avoiding most of the Aurors by taking the tunnels through the walls or ducking around a corner. There were dozens, swarming the castle. He was stopped several times even after he tried to avoid them as best as possible. Most of them ignored him, and those who didn't he told he was going to Dumbledore's office to talk to him.

The password was still the same as it had been when Virginia had been sorted and so Harry made his way up the stairs and knocked on Dumbledore's office, just to see if perhaps he had made it already. Dumbledore didn't answer but Virginia did. "Is he alright?" She asked before the door had opened all the way. "I told Dumbledore that there might be some trouble and he left."

Before he answered her he came in and found a seat. "Yes. Remus has been under the influence of a spell, we just figured it out. I think I dissolved it, but I don't know. I'll have to wait for Dumbledore before I know for sure. What about Mrs. Norris and the Hufflepuffs?"

"The Aurors took over. They sent me here to talk to Dumbledore, they said they'd talk to me about what happened once everything was taken care of. What do you think they'll do to Mrs. Norris?"

Harry shrugged. "Wait until she returns to normal. Once we explain what happened they might cure her themselves."

"We're going to get into trouble aren't we?"

Of that Harry was sure. He was distracted but he was also trying to figure out how to get everyone else out of trouble. It was his fault anyway. "Yes, but that doesn't mean we all do. I can tell them I did it all myself."

"No, you and I did it. Hermione was just trying to be nice to Mrs. Norris when it happened. Neville, Ron and Blaise were just with me at the time. They didn't know anything about it. You had finished the potion and had to take a break for a minute, that's why you weren't hurt as badly."

The plan was remarkable similar to what he would have thought up had he intended to take the blame with Virginia. "You've been thinking on this haven't you?"

She nodded. "It's the easiest way to keep them out of trouble, and it really was our fault. I thought Hermione was wrong and I should have said something, but I didn't. I don't mind getting in trouble as long as it doesn't get us expelled." They both stopped at the same time. Someone was coming up the stairs, they had both heard the door open up. Hopefully it was Dumbledore.

Remus was the person that came in the door first. He looked different, the paleness and darkness seemed to have disappeared, he didn't look like the same person, he was even a little cheerful. "Hello Harry."

Virginia was staring at him, amazed. Harry was curious if Remus knew now or if it would still take a little while. "You're feeling better Remus?"

He nodded, a little confused now. "I remember what happened to me, I remember almost everything. But now that it's gone it's almost like something missing."

"An unfortunate side effect of the spell, one of many. The spell was far too harsh on both people involved, that's why it's not used at all. You'll have to take a few days to get used to being your normal self. Most of what happened will return as well, the last bits of information you can't remember may not return though."

Birdie's confession, He didn't remember it now, Harry wondered what she would do when she found out he didn't know. Would she confess again? Remus was different now, would she be able to do it again? He had lost the last bits of his memory, so that would mean he didn't know where Sirius was either, or remember hurting Harry.

"You have Harry to thank for relieving you of the burden. He performed it quite well, and on the first time." Dumbledore smiled happily. "Even though he was concerned that he couldn't do it."

Everyone finally got situated and then someone else came. When the finally reached the top of the stairs they knocked lightly and opened the door. "Albus, it's come to my understanding that Ginny..." Professor McGonagall started to say before she noticed everyone that was in the room. "Well, you seem to have things in order." She said as she looked between Ginny and Harry.

"Yes Minerva, do join us. We shall come up with the proper punishment together. First I'd like to hear them explain themselves. Harry in particular, he's just barely gotten out of the infirmary and he's at it again."

To tell them the truth about why wasn't hard. "I was locked in that room for 4 weeks, what did you expect. I needed to do something fun when I got out. In theory it was better than turning the Slytherin food to maggots wasn't it? All we wanted to do was make Mrs. Norris pester the Auror, right Virginia?"

"Right. Harry accidentally made a mistake when he was making the potion and switched the order of two of the ingredients. Neither of us realized it until too late. No one was seriously injured were they?"

"No. No one was injured beyond what can be fixed. Mostly bruises and scratches. It wasn't a good idea to do this though. You should have known that such things would only bring trouble. I'm surprised at you Harry." McGonagall said. "I believe suspension is in order, 2 full weekends."

Dumbledore cleared his throat. "Not this coming weekend, Ms. Weasley needs to get her wand, she has been borrowing a wand and I promised her a trip to Diagon Alley. So, the punishment for your actions is two weekends of detention, you both will find out where and when after I have arranged it."

McGonagall nodded her head and then dismissed herself immediately.

"Now as for Remus I'll keep track of him and let you know if anything happens. Virginia, you can bring Harry along when we get your wand, if you'd like. I've already made arrangements." Virginia smiled and nodded. "Now if there is nothing else I would like to get some rest tonight, having a giant cat running rampart through the school is very eventful, I'm afraid I've worn myself out."

Together Virginia and Harry started to leave, Dumbledore had one more thing to say though. "Oh, and Harry, do tell him to be more careful now."

Of course Harry knew who 'he' was. He planned on it. Maybe Dumbledore knew about the secret room. He seemed to know that Sirius was still in the castle, and the only person who knew who might tell was Remus, but Remus couldn't remember.

•

"Do you think I'll get anything special?" Virginia asked as the walked down the street of Diagon Alley. She, Harry and Ender were walking down the streets of Diagon Alley.

Ender smiled from ahead, Harry could just see it from the side. "Every wand is special Ginny, every wand..."

Harry remembered Hermione's, that wand had been special. He knew his was powerful and special to, but why he didn't want to think about. "I think it doesn't matter about the wand, you've used mine and can do things just as easy as I can."

Virginia nodded as they entered the shop. Harry waited for the old man to appear out of nowhere, as he had before. This time he was surprised when the man rustled about before appearing. He looked between the three people and then his eyes fell to Harry's wand. "Back again Mr. White?"

Harry felt foolish, of course he should have hidden his wand, the man would know his wand anywhere. "It's Harry."

"Ah yes. I had figured that out, quite a good disguise before, I was taken by surprise when you took that wand." He motioned to the wand Harry had in his belt. "You've been keeping it up I hope?"

This time Harry nodded. He knew proper care for a wand, it was one of the very first things Sirius had taught him. "_If you don't take care of it, it might not be to its full power when you need it most"_ Sirius had said.

"I take it the young girl is looking for a wand?" Mr. Ollivander asked.

Ender motioned for Mr. Ollivander and they spoke to the side for a moment, Mr. Ollivanders eyes lit up. Harry couldn't hear anything, there must have been a sound dampening charm on the building, or Ender was being very careful. Finally Ender finished and Mr. Ollivander returned to his spot in front of Virginia. "Take a seat young lady, I'll be right back. Oh, and did you happen to bring that wand you've been using?" She shook her head. Mr. Ollivander turned away, glumly.

Harry spoke up. "It was my mothers wand, do you know what that was?"

He returned with three boxes under his arm and the measuring instrument in his hand. "Yes, I think I have an idea, but I'll measure you first." He started measurements. "You're the youngest Weasley girl aren't you?"

"Yes. My names Ginny." Virginia said rather uncomfortable, she didn't seem to like the old man.

The measuring tape finished and Mr. Ollivander nodded. "Yes, good, good..." he mumbled to himself.

"Your wand arm?"

"Right."

And you've been using Lilly's wand. "Willow, yes. Ten and a quarter inches, Griffin feather. She was quite a fiery person, even at your age."

Carefully he put pulled the first wand from the box. "Here, try this one," he said, offering her the wand. "Not all that unusual, and not too much different from the wand you've been using. Eight inches, willow, a different core."

Virginia stood there holding the wand, she waved it about and nothing happened. Mr. Ollivander replaced it with the second wand he had unboxed. "Twelve and three quarter inches, oak, whippy, a single Phoenix feather."

Virginia waved it but nothing happened again. Mr. Ollivander replaced it with the third and again nothing happened. He shook his head and wandered to the back again. "Playing with wands before you have your own... serious effect that can have. But then he has a very odd wand..." he mumbled to himself. Harry didn't hear the rest. Mr. Ollivander returned with 4 more boxes, most were rather dusty and when he blew them off Harry sneezed.

"Here, I think this one will like you." He offered Virginia the wand, it was completely black. "Ebony, black ebony. Has braided black unicorn hairs for a core, a set my grandfather picked up when he was young. Never had many of them. Very subtle wand, and flexible. I think she'll like you."

Virginia waved it and the room sparkled with a dazzling fireworks show. Harry saw Mr. Ollivander nod at Ender who smiled. "Yes, yes, goody. I had hoped it would work." Harry pulled out some gold from his pocket and offered it to Ollivander who smiled and took it.

"What was all that about Ender, why did you whisper to him before he looked for a wand?" Harry asked once they were outside the wand shop.

Ender just shook his head. "Told him she'd been using another wand. Dumbledore asked me to tell him some thing not related to you too." Then he turned away and changed the subject immediately. "Ice cream anyone? There's a new restaurant here, I hear it serves the best ice cream in England, I've wanted to try it." Harry was disappointed Ender wouldn't tell them what it was he had whispered, somehow it had had to do with Mr. Ollivanders decisions on the wand.

They came to the new shop, The Hungry Harpy. Ender ordered them some ice cream, got them a table, then excused himself with a warning for the two to stay in the restaurant until he returned. After eating his fill Harry felt less resolute about asking Ender again, deciding he would figure it out himself. "Do you think I've been damaged for using another wand too much?" Virginia asked, as she poked at her ice cream, eating little bits of it. "You hear him say it too."

Of course he had heard it. "I don't think you're damaged, the wand you have seems to like you. What do you think he meant when he said 'he has a very odd wand' anyway, was he talking about me?"

"Don't know, maybe. I have a wand now though, you can have yours back when we're back at Hogwarts. Do you think Ender'll let us stop and get some presents before we leave? I have a couple galleons that I won off of my brothers."

"Yeah, he'll let us, he's probably one of the only teachers that would. What do you suppose he's doing anyway?"

"Running errands for Dumbledore." Virginia said. "He had a list of things to do in his pocket. He dropped it earlier and I got a good look at it. He had to pick up some special ingredient for a potion, things Snape wouldn't even have."

When she said Snape Harry was reminded of her first encounter with him. "Why does Snape not dislike you? He hates all Gryffindors, you're the first person I knew of that he didn't hate."

"I met him once, a long time ago. I was only five or six at the time and father was out working. Mum had gone into town and everyone was out playing Quidditch. He showed up at our house, wounded horribly, and trying to hide. I helped him hide and when some people showed up I told them I hadn't seen anyone."

"You let Snape in your house and then lied to a group of people who were chasing him?"

Virginia nodded. "They said they were Aurors but one of them had an ugly tattoo on his arm and I didn't like them. I didn't really think about it I just told them that I hadn't seen him and the kept going. Dad came home right after and helped Snape get fixed up. I never really saw him after that, but I remembered what his name was."

"So you saved Snape's life, it's no wonder he lets you get away with slapping Malfoy."

"He's not a bad person, he just has a hard time with other people. I talked to him before dad got home, and he was really nice. I helped him clean his wounds cause he didn't have a wand."

Seeing Snape laid out, all beat up was something Harry might've wanted to see 'til just now, but then he wouldn't have wanted most people to live through such a thing either.

• Edited 2004.09.18 •


	18. A Christmas Story

Chapter 18

• A Christmas Story •

Outside snow flakes floated aimlessly on the chilling breeze. Vacation started today, which meant Christmas was right around the corner.

"Do you think we could sneak to Hogsmeade tomorrow?" Virginia asked quietly as they walked between classes. She had pulled Harry back from the rest of the group before asking. "I need one more thing for Christmas. They didn't have it at Diagon Alley."

The passages were there, but Harry wasn't sure which he could use. "There are a ways, but I don't know which passages Mr. Darnel knows."

The whole school was now empty of Aurors; Dumbledore had made sure of it the instant Remus was out of the infirmary. Since they had served as a replacement for Filch, no one had been called to fill the position while they were present. After they were gone the teachers and Prefects checked the halls nightly. That was until, two nights ago at dinner; Dumbledore has introduced Mr. Darnel as the new caretaker of Hogwarts. From a distance Harry didn't like him, he seemed spotty.

"Maybe we could make a deal with him." Virginia suggested.

Making a deal, it had a strange ring to it. Before this year Harry would have not even thought twice about it, he didn't enjoy being held to anything. But now... now, for some reason making a deal didn't seem so ridiculous.

His head flashed an image or two, a glimpse of the past. He was making a deal with Bill, but he wasn't himself, he was a little girl. Harry shook it away, wondering if Virginia had ever made a deal with Bill to get the twins stuck in a set of boxes for their birthday.

Yes, he would see what Mr. Darnell though, later, after class. Maybe they could make a deal with him. For now they had to listen to Professor Shamis who prattled on. History of Magic was by far the most boring of all the classes.

"We can go to his office after class and talk about it..." Harry said to Virginia, being caught up by what was happening ahead of them. Blaise, Ron, Neville and Hermione had stopped. Hermione bent over and picked up something. "What do you suppose Hermione's doing?"

Harry stepped forward, but when he saw what Hermione was picking up he faltered. It wasn't because he was afraid, rather he suddenly became cautious. Seeing the cat had given him a second flashback, and he remembered this one well.

Looking closer it seemed the cat wasn't Mrs. Norris. it was a much younger cat, that looked remarkably similar. It had all of its fur and was clean, but still somehow reminded Harry of Mrs. Norris. It didn't have many of the traits: the evil eyes, the patchy and mangled fur and the age. But somehow...

Hermione offered the kitten to him. "Harry look. They finally brought Mrs. Norris back. Do you think I should keep her?"

The collar was the same, and the ID tag read Norris. Harry shivered and looked. The doctors must have tried to cure her and not been able to get it quite right. Now she seemed so much more cat like, not angry and wicked as she had seemed before. He shrugged, it was her choice and it was better than having kept the old Mrs. Norris.

Smiling she rubbed Mrs. Norris. "You know what I will. I'll give her a new name too, so no one teases her." And she removed the collar.

Hermione took her into the classroom and hid her in her lap, where Professor Shamis wouldn't directly see her. It wasn't as if it mattered, she rarely saw half the things that happened in her class anyway. Harry sat and slipped down in his chair, this was going to be boring as usual.

"Muggles at the time did know that magic existed, but they believed it to be..." Professor Shamis droned on in the class. Harry felt his eyelids dropping further and further. Hermione wasn't paying any attention at all; she was playing with Mrs. Norris and giggling silently. Neville was watching her, laughing silently as well. The only person that was even paying attention was Samantha Wardons and she always paid attention. Harry thought she should have been put into Ravenclaw instead of Hufflepuff.

"Yes Ms..." Professor Shamis stopped and thought for a second; Harry opened his eyes wider and looked around to see who was disturbing his peace. Virginia was putting down her hand. "Weasley. Yes that's it. Ms. Weasley, how can I help you?"

"Professor Shamis, I was wondering if you might be able to tell us some history related to Christmas? This is the last day before Vacation and the Gararian Witches don't have anything to do with Christmas."

Professor Shamis looked stunned and Harry almost laughed out loud. Virginia had a knack for disrupting things without putting herself in a bad position. "Well, that is not part of the lesson plan..."

"But professor..." Virginia started to complain.

"But..." She held up her hand, stopping Virginias comment. "Given that it is the Christmas season I don't see any reason why I can't change the lesson a little. It's not as if anyone was paying attention anyway." Out of the corner of his eye Harry could see that Samantha Wardons was quite put off by the comment.

For a moment she paced the front of the classroom, trying to think of something. "Alright, a Christmas story, I have just the one. You're all first years so this might appeal to you. How many out there celebrate Christmas here?"

A few people, who had somehow managed to stay awake, raised their hands. Harry half raised his as well. "Come on, come on." said Professor Shamis. "I know more of you do." More hands were raised as people came alert again. Susan Bones was prodded by the person next to her and fell out of her seat, waking most of the other students. After a few laughs nearly everyone had their hands raised.

"Hogwarts was built nearly a thousand years ago. At this time Christmas was not celebrated, even few muggles celebrated it. There was vacation of course and some wizards celebrated winters solstice. Mostly it was just to break up the year." Harry sat up and listened intently, he hadn't ever thought about it, but Christmas wasn't a normal celebration for magical people.

"The school was built for two reasons, to teach and to protect. Magic was feared and hated at the time so many times to find students you would have to go to great lengths before they would believe you. This also could result in a witch or wizard being caught and tortured by some horrendous muggle machine."

She looked around the class. "It was several years after the initial founding of Hogwarts that two children, just about your ages, appeared on his estate. They were lost, lonely and scared, but they were magical, Godric sensed it right away. They told him they had been driven out of their homes and their parents murdered and so he gave them board. When they spoke of magic he was puzzled, their candor regarding magic was fearless. Godric took a liking to them and brought them to Hogwarts with him when the school year started."

Samantha raised her hand and the professor nodded. "Yes?"

"What does this have to do with History of Magic?" Samantha asked she didn't seem to like the Christmas story.

Professor Shamis looked Samantha in the eyes. "This story involves every person in this room, especially you Samantha." Her voice was demeaning, as if she was trying to put Samantha down. It was odd, she never did that.

Samantha's hand dropped and she nodded, looking down at her papers. Harry wondered why Professor Shamis had acted so, and why she had called Samantha by her first name, she called every student by their last names like most of the professors did.

"Here and now we all live a luxurious life, we buy our school supplies and come to school prepared. In those times school supplies were provided and used over and over and over again. Wands were passed down rather than bought, and few students actually had one. For a student to have there own wand they had to be incredibly well off or have made one themselves."

Hermione raised her hand, ignoring Mrs. Norris for a minute. "What about staffs?"

Professor Shamis nodded towards her with a smile. "Yes, there were more than wands at that time, wizards did carry staffs, but even fewer. The art of making a wand was wide spread then but you must have certain talents to do it. Some tried and failed, others made wands that were somewhat crude but as powerful as the wands we have today. Being that we are on the subject does anyone know how to make a wand?"

The whole class was stumped. Hermione and Samantha even and they both always knew the answers. "No? Alright then, does anyone know why we no longer use staffs?"

Hermione and Samantha's hands both shot up. The professor chose Samantha. "Staffs were outlawed in 1236 because Simeon the Sorcerer was able to use his staff to take control over Hogwarts and Hogsmeade with a curse. No one was able to counter it because it was too strong. It was only released after he died in a struggle with a werewolf he was trying to take control of."

Now that was interesting, Harry would have never guessed one man could do such a thing. Had he used an unforgivable curse? Or had he done something else?

"Yes, soon after the production of wands and staffs was outlawed for common wizards, wizards did not want such an event to happen again. Texts that outlined the steps were either destroyed or erased and having texts without permission will get a person fifteen years in Azkaban. That is why so few people make wands now. Every person that makes one is tested and approved by the Ministry of Magic before they receive a license. Five points to Hufflepuff." Amanda gave Hermione a snotty look, which the professor saw.

"...and five points to Gryffindor for the intelligent question." The professor added. Hermione smiled to herself, but didn't rub it in, she wasn't the sort that did. Samantha fumed and gave Hermione a dirty look.

Professor Shamis moved over to the wall and pulled an ancient wooden box. "This wand is no longer a functioning wand so the ministry has given permission for it. This wand has been passed down from the time that Hogwarts was built. My father's father's father's father's father's created it– you get the idea. It has been passed down through our family for almost a thousand years. He created it himself and it is a perfect example of what a wand was like in their time."

She passed the wand to the person in the farthest corner from Harry. He regretted choosing the back seat today, for some reason he wanted to get a good look at that wand. Those around it peered in and slowly it moved around the class.

When it had started its rounds she continued with her story. "These children displayed no magical talent at all except they seemed to move within the castle without bounds. They could disappear and reappear at will, giving the impression that they were ghosts of some sort. When winter came they asked for something peculiar." Again she made her way to the shelf, selecting on of the thick leather-bound volumes from it.

Taking his eyes from the professor for a moment he glanced over to the wand, he wanted to see it. It still had not made it very far; other students seemed to find it fascinating. "Here..." muttered the professor, pointing to a spot in the book. "Let me read this for you."

"_The siblings approached the staff today, asking that we celebrate the Christian holiday that is celebrated soon. Salazar of course made note of this immediately. __Elizabeth__ told us that it was not just a Christian holiday, but also a time to show appreciation, and to give to others. Godric subdued both arguments by allowing the siblings to celebrate their Christian holiday amongst themselves."_

"There, you see, these children, as young as they were understood Christmas better than we do." She said as she flipped the pages forward again, searching for another entry. Upon finding it she looked up, every student in the classroom was listening intently; this lesson was by far the best lesson they had learned. "The children did celebrate Christmas, but at the same time something else happened. Let me read it."

"_The dreams have been unbearable since Winters Solstice. Since that day I have been at the top of the towers, watching the land waiting for it to return. This morning after three days wait I saw it, walking proudly along the outline of the forest giving me only a taste of its beauty and then daring me to follow. I neared it once, before it plunged me further into the forest. It was taunting me, and I wished it had allowed me a single touch that I could pluck a hair and finish my task._"

Shamis stopped, looking around. She nodded towards the wand. "He was young and still did not have his own wand, but wanted one. Seeking out the core was part of the creation of the wand, and he was seeking a unicorn for his." She looked down and read again.

"_My plight came soon afterwards. I followed it with more vigor then before, knowing I would soon be able to obtain what I needed. Again I beheld the unicorn, this time it paid me no mind and it was in a battle for its life. I only watched for a moment to understand that he was loosing against the monstrous beast that had attacked it. Against all sense I interceded, trying to spare its life from death. I had borrowed a wand so I was not without defense or ability to defeat the creature. But he was by far too strong and I found myself in the same predicament as the unicorn, only barely alive. I lay next to it, wondering if I would draw my next breath while it still lived."_

_"Then something extraordinary happened. The siblings appeared. The approached the boast and touched him, doing something which I would not have imagined. __Elizabeth__ sung a song tune and Henry stroked his head. The beast, the great beast which had nearly slain both the unicorn and I closed his eyes and became docile to the point that they used him to carry us back to the castle. Laying me at the door the called for help. Before anyone came they disappeared in the forest with both the beast and the unicorn. Godric and Rowena treated my wounds and heard my story but would not believe it."_

Blaise raised her hand and Professor Shamis nodded to her. "Professor, the beast it talked about... what was it?"

"It has no explanation of the creature. This journal was often times very vague. Another description from the time leads me to believe that it is unlike anything we know of today." Blaise nodded.

The professor sat the journal on the table and sat down in front of the class. "The children asked nothing in return, only saying it was a gift they had given of themselves. Forfeiting the debt they were owed was a great thing, during this time period to save one's life was to indenture them to you until they could repay the debt. Gustav, who is the person whose journals I have read this from, still felt indebted to them and so when he was healed he sought them out again. But they disappeared. The unicorn hairs he had been so desperately seeking were given to him, as a second present and a not saying so. He never saw either the beast or the unicorn again."

Harry saw that the wand had finally come around to him. Virginia was directly in front of him and examining it. Harry took the box when it was offered and looked at it carefully. The wand was crude compared to the wand he carried; it had a knot a few inches from the bottom and several smaller ones that had been smoothed out along the shaft. Harry picked it up and examined it.

Something happened. It twitched. Harry dropped it, utterly surprised that a wand would move by itself but it did not fall. "Wha..." It shivered in mid-air. Then, as Harry pushed himself farther away from it, it shattered in front of him, spraying him with splinters of wood. "Aahhhh!" screamed Harry as splinters embedded themselves in his face. His vision became instantly blurry and when he tried to close his eyes he could not.

It took a lot of self-will to ignore the pain but was able to and he did not cry. His eyes and face hurt tremendously for a long few moments and then, the pain started to diminish. What was left of the wand, a single thin rod, glowed brightly and slowly the pieces of the wand pulled themselves from Harry's face and eyes. His sores were healed somewhat and the wand became whole again, and then dropped back into Harry's hands.

"My... it's never done that before, it hasn't done anything magical since..." Professor Shamis stammered. She caught herself and focused. "Infirmary! Now."

Harry pulled himself up from his desk and behind him he could hear Virginia stand. "Yes. You, make sure he reaches the infirmary."

Just outside Harry stopped and waited for Virginia who closed the door behind her. He stopped for another reason as well, he felt fine now and he really wanted to hear the rest of the story.

"Class! I want you to calm down, he'll be fine." Professor Shamis yelled and did something, which quieted the class's fussing a little. Harry waited, he wasn't sure if the story was over but he wanted to hear the rest of it.

It took a moment; the professor must have been doing something because the voices died until it was quiet. She started again. "As I said, the children disappeared. This brought even more question as to whether they were some other sort of that no one had encountered until now. Of course as always, life went on without them. The following year, however, Gustav asked the staff to celebrate Christmas for the children's sake. His wishes were respected and a small Christmas was planned with the help of some of the children. On Christmas Eve the two reappeared at Hogwarts and asked to stay the night. Of course Gustav was overjoyed and told them of their Christmas. They were given rooms and when the next day came they were again gone, but they left presents. Every student at Hogwarts awoke to find a small box at the end of their beds, each received their very own wand."

"Professor... did they ever appear again?" Someone asked from inside the room. Harry could tell that the professor had finished the story now.

"Yes, they came again. Not every Christmas, but they came many times, leaving gifts. Sometimes they were less serious than they should have been but the always left a smile on student's faces."

Someone else asked a question. "Professor, how do you know it was them?"

"When they left presents they always left a calling card of sorts. It would be difficult to replicate it unless you knew how they did it. They've also been seen occasionally, wandering through the halls, talking to one another. They are by no means ghosts, I've had the chance to see them once or twice."

"The wands. How many did they have to make?" Hermione asked.

"They made a total of sixty-three. Some wands were left for the staff to distribute later with a letter saying so."

"How did they produce that many in that short of time?"

The professor took a moment to answer, "Some of the witches and wizards of the time wondered as well. A few who knew of Christianity suggested that it was possible that they were angels." She said. "Though of course, that is nonsense, but it is the most accepted of the theories. Now that you've heard the story maybe you can answer some questions about..."

Virginia and Harry walked down the corridor; the story was over. "Do you think they were angels Virginia?"

"Don't know. Maybe, I don't really know what an angel is."

Harry thought about trying to explain it to her, but it would involve more time than it would take to reach the infirmary and it would be confusing anyway. He had learned all about religions when he was with Sirius, they had gone to different churches on occasion to seem a part of the community. Harry had never much liked it.

"Why do you think that wand exploded?" Harry asked as the walked down the halls. He felt perfectly all right now and was thinking of using this as a chance to pull a prank on someone. His mind was distracted by the thoughts of the wand however. He'd never heard of a wand exploding before.

Virginia shrugged. "You were playing with it, did you say any spells?"

"No."

"Try one then, see if it does anything."

It was then that Harry remembered that the wand he had in his hand was not his own, that was in the pocket of his cloak; he was still holding the wand which had exploded. He held it up and looked at it again, it didn't seem to be any different than when he examined it before. "Are you sure?"

"Well it didn't work when Neville tried it. I saw him trying to use the lumos charm with it."

Of course Neville had to see if he could use it, he always tried something just to see if perhaps the adults were wrong. "Alright then." Harry said and held the wand up, he didn't think it would work, but held it above his head incase it did explode again. "_Lumos._"

The hallway lit up so brightly that Harry had to close his eyes. "_Nox_."

When Harry opened his eyes he saw large dark spots glowing all over, it had half blinded him. "Harry?" Virginia said, her voice trembling. "I can't see."

Harry moved around and gripped her hand, dropping the wand in his other pocket. "Well it's a good thing we were headed to the infirmary. Just let me lead, I can see enough to know where to go."

They moved through the halls quietly but Harry could see that Virginia was becoming uneasy. He tried to imagine what might make her feel better and he had an idea. "Virginia. Remember what the professor said? That the two children left less-than-serious gifts sometimes." Virginia nodded, calmer than she had been. Harry opened a secret passage; it would make the trip easier if they didn't have to deal with other students or teachers. "What do you say about giving everyone our own less-that-serious gift? I can get into every common room."

In the flickering light of the magical torches that lit the passage revealed that Virginia had lost her uneasiness and was smiling. Harry knew she loved pulling practical jokes as much as he did; only she was the idea person while he made sure everything worked out. "I have a really good idea. We'll have to get into the common rooms at least once soon so we can make sure it will work. If we can do..." She continued on, explaining in detail what she was thinking about.

"A wand exploding. Pish-posh! You've both been blinded by light. What did you two decide to see who could stare at the sun longer?" Madam Pomfrey hadn't let Harry explain everything; he had only just gotten to the part where the wand exploded. "Alright, come here, well get you fixed up.

Virginia lay down and Madam Pomfrey bustled about getting some things while Harry wondered about the wand. He should return it as soon as he got out, he didn't like it much. Would Professor Shamis believe it was working without him trying to do something? Should he even tell her that it was? That would mean she would have to tell the ministry and if it were a working wand they would have to take it away. Harry debated the telling her as Madam Pomfrey examined him. "You'll both have to were special glasses for a week, they'll help your eyes adjust. Ms. Weasley won't be able to see for another hour or so until the potion takes effect.

Returning to the classroom they found it had been emptied of students, classes were over for the night. "Are you alright Ms. Weasley?" asked Professor Shamis who was sitting in the far corner of the classroom, being extremely quiet until that moment.

"Yes, I just can't see very well at the moment. Terrible headache, Madam Pomfrey gave me something for it though it'll go away."

They had talked about telling the Professor about the incident and decided not to, it was better to keep a family treasure within the family and not let the ministry take it away. Harry pulled out the wand and started to hand it to Professor Shamis who shook her head. "It's not mine anymore."

"What are you talking about? It's a family heirloom." Harry insisted she take it.

Again she shook her head. "Not anymore, it wasn't my choice."

"I don't want it." Harry dropped it on the table in front of the professor and went to collect his things.

The professor laughed heartily. "You think you have a choice? I don't want to give it up and you don't want to take it, but it isn't our choice now is it?" Harry looked up at her confused. Wands chose their owners when they were bought, and they really had no magical powers without a witch or wizard controlling them did they?

"Look." Harry had been keeping an eye on Professor Shamis, but not on the wand, when he looked to the desk he had set it on it was gone.

"Where did it go?"

The professor moved across the room to the bookshelf and took no notice of the question. She pulled out a parchment. "Here. It's proof that this wand has been purged of any and all magic. You'll need it if the ministry ever confiscates it."

"But I haven't even got the wand."

She pulled down the box it had been in. "Keep it in this, it's charmed to keep the wand from aging like they usually do, that's how it's still in as good of shape as it is."

She slipped the parchment into the box and handed them both to Harry. "I know you may not be used to having something like this but keep it put away, it is worth a great deal to our family."

"But I..."

The professor shushed him. "Did you enjoy the rest of the story?"

"Yeah." Said Harry.

"Why didn't anyone believe they were real?" Virginia asked.

Professor Shamis placed the leather-bound volume she had read from earlier back on the shelf. "They didn't know how to explain how the children moved through the castle or could stop terrible creatures from killing. Some of the things they did made them seem as if they could do more than just magic. They were real though. We have a painting of them at home sitting with Gustav."

"Why did they give wands to everyone like they did?"

"Virginia, you asked for the story. Do you think that perhaps they knew the true meaning of Christmas the thing that is so hard to grasp even now? Have you ever given it all for someone?" Professor Shamis asked.

Virginia looked over to Harry and then back to the professor. "I think we've all given something up to help someone else." She said and then added. "Harry does it all the time."

Harry shook his head and slipped his hands into his pockets nonchalantly and noticed that both pockets contained wands. Someone the other wand had slipped into his pocket. He pulled it out and set it on the desk beside him while the Professor wasn't looking, he would just conveniently forget to take them and hope she didn't force them upon him. He didn't want to take something of her families, it didn't matter if she thought it was not hers anymore, it wasn't his.

"Alright, why don't you two get going, class is over and I have some things to take care of."

Virginia started to ask something else but Harry wanted to get out of there before the wand was noticed. "Later." He whispered.

Outside he headed away from the towers. If Professor Shamis should see it and want to return it she would head that direction. Besides, they still had to talk to Mr. Darnel.

He wasn't old like Filch, but he had the same sour look. "What do you want?" he asked Harry when they entered the office. He almost turned around but Virginia kept a tight grip on him.

"We want to make a trade." Virginia told him.

Mr. Darnell sat up in his chair and stared at the two. "What do you 'ave that I need?" He asked gruffly.

Harry was beginning to wonder if this was such a good idea, telling Mr. Darnell that they knew the passages was a big mistake. "We know things about the school that most people don't. Things Filch doesn't even know."

For the first time since Harry had seen him, Mr. Darnell smiled. The whole outward appearance seemed to change, giving him a much nicer look, a completely different look than Filch now. "You know the passages don't yeah?" he asked, smiling even broader. "What do you want to trade for 'em?"

"Well, we don't want to get prevented from using them. Nor do we want to get in trouble for things we showed you." She paused briefly, seeing what he thought of it. His look didn't change at all, he simply continued smiling. "There are other things also. Filch has confiscated some of our things..."

Mr. Darnell laughed. "Yes. You two must be 'arry and Ginny. I've heard about you. Argus didn't much like you two."

Argus? Did he know Filch?

"He caught you sneaking into the school first day didn't 'e?" He asked Harry.

Harry nodded.

"Yes, well I think the deal is acceptable, 'e never showed me many of the passages when I was here and I doubt he knew them all anyway."

Virginia wasn't about to let him off; he seemed not to mind agreeing with that so she was going to push it further. "My brothers are also to be considered, they use the passages as well."

"Of course. My brother wasn't fond of many people, but I don't want to be like 'em."

"Brother?" Harry asked.

"Well 'alf-brother, different father. He didn't much like me because I 'ad the talent and he didn't."

"He was a squib?"

"'Fraid so, made him resentful to the rest of the world especially because of me. My mother was a muggle and I was still born with magic." Darnell pulled out a parchment from his desk. "You two know the passages, what else do ye know? Secret rooms and such?"

Harry and Virginia looked between each other. "Some." Harry said, not trying to give away how much they actually knew.

"Good, well we can go exploring tonight, I'll show you what I know first and ye can show me the others."

"Then you will let us use the passages as we please?" Virginia asked.

Darnell nodded. "But I don't want it coming back that I gave ye permission for such. And I don't want you to go and get yourselves harmed sneaking around. I don't want you hurting others either, you must be more careful when you pull any stunts. As for your item's you've lost I'll have to go through everything first, but then you can come and see what he's built up in his vault. I suppose you might be able to help me clear it out."

This was by far better than Harry had expected, he was almost going to let them do whatever they wanted.

"Of course, should someone else catch you you'll be punished accordingly, I can't make it seem as if I favor anyone."

•

Darnell met them at precisely 9 o'clock, the time that all students were supposed to be in their common rooms. Some of course were still out, serving detentions or in the library finishing some last minute homework assignments.

"Cleared the halls, no teachers'll be out tonight, made sure of that 'for I came. Can't be seen getting moving through the school with you two." He told them quietly. "The professor's 'ave already retired for the night so we'd best be moving along, got a lot of things I need to see 'for the night is over."

Three Passages and almost an hour later they were staring down into the Slytherin common room. The vent shaft that was above it was easily accessible and though a bit small for Darnell, still easy enough to crawl in. It went further, but neither Darnell nor Virginia could see that, it looked as if stopped here and that's what Harry intended to make Darnell think. Sneaking into a common room was one thing, but sneaking into the dorms and bathrooms was private.

Virginia could see now and examined the rooms; they might as well make full use of the privilege while they had it. She nodded to Harry signaling she thought it would work well with the plan.

The whole night disappeared in a maze of passages; they walked through the school 5 times thoroughly, giving him passage after passage. Then, to top it off they led him to Hogsmeade and back twice. Harry kept a few passages quiet, the ones that he wanted to use without even Darnell knowing about them. Even then they didn't show Darnell some,

When Darnell had had enough there was still more, but Harry had saved them for last, there were still a few places he wanted to keep secret. "This night 'as been very enlightenin' I 'ave to get back and get some sleep now. You two 'ad best be getting back."

Virginia had other plans and she pulled Harry in to one of the other passages leading to Hogsmeade. The came out in the gardens and walked along the path for a while. Virginia was trying to figure out what to buy for Bill, she said it had to be special because he had saved Harry from the fire. Ron's present was special as well; she had spent a great deal of money getting him a Quidditch outfit, an official Chudley Cannons uniform.

Harry remembered Ron spouting about them two weeks ago, right before the first Quidditch match at the school. He had not been able to go because he had gotten caught putting spells on the Slytherins shoes in class so that they bonded together after three steps. Snape had immediately taken the chance to give him detention during the Quidditch match.

Slytherin had won, they were said to be good even if they didn't cheat. Harry wished he were flying against them; he might be able to fight them off.

"I think something like this." Virginia pulled a necklace from the stand they were in front of. It was a very small necklace, to be worn around the neck itself. "He has earrings that would match it perfectly. He just got them after vacation, mum hated it when he did it but I think she's getting used to the idea." Harry examined it and flipped it over. It was a charmed necklace, suppose to help the wearer when he was attacked physically. The price tag was much more than Virginia had so Harry kept it in his hands. It looked good, and Bill would probably like it, he would just pitch in a little extra so that Virginia could get it.

"Then let's get it. Here, give me your money and I'll go get it. Be right back alright?" Virginia dug in her pockets and fished out the money, dropping the few coins into Harry's pocket. When Harry reached the counter he pulled out his money and paid for the necklace.

Hogsmeade wasn't particularly busy, but people were still bustling around shopping for whatever it was they needed. Virginia liked to watch, so they sat on a bench, eating some ice cream and watched as every variety of witch a wizard past by.

"Do you want to go for a run in the woods Harry? I really want to go fly." Changing over didn't sound like a bad idea. Sirius could do it all over, he could wander around a town as a dog and few people would even pay attention to him, while if Harry went bounding around he was almost always chased after or yelled at. Flying would be even easier; it wasn't that uncommon to see an eagle or a falcon flying around a town. He envied Virginia for that.

If they transformed Virginia could hold the bag with the necklace in it in her talons while Harry followed her bellow, and they would bother get to play for a while with no one watching. Besides, Harry wanted to try something that had been nagging him for a while.

"Try transforming into a wildcat like me. You told me you could do it before, so I want to know if you can do it now."

The challenge was something he had been curious about since she had changed. Sirius had once told him that a person could not become two animagus because you were only one person, to be something else would require a second body physically, so no one would ever be able to do it.

Virginia smiled; she knew something that Harry didn't. She pulled off her glasses and dropped them in the bag. Closing her eyes she concentrated. Harry didn't concentrate anymore, he had done it so many times that it was natural, he didn't even hardly think about it. At first it was slow, she turned a golden color and leaned forward, her hands becoming paws. Then, her hair formed and a mouth, sharp teeth protruding.

Did he look like this? He wondered. It wasn't any sort of wildcat he knew of.

She changed back. Faster than before, but not as quick as Harry did normally, "You did it!" Harry was overjoyed, now he could tell Sirius that he was wrong, someday.

Virginia nodded, smiling. "I've been practicing. Now you try it, you become a bird."

The impulse to try it made Harry shiver. He had felt the same pain she had gone through, maybe he was also an eagle. He closed his eyes and almost transformed, but he stopped, he was doing what was natural and become a wildcat. He slowed himself, trying to take each step slowly. There must be something else. At first it was the Thought, he forced himself to think of becoming an eagle first. Then, when he changed he saw each part of him as a part of the eagle; his feet tingled, becoming clawed. His skin slowly became feathers, his arm to wings. It hurt, and it was hard, it didn't feel as natural as when he had become a wildcat. Now, he had experience, he remembered how the change became natural, and how hard it had been to force himself to become an animal.

He was unsuccessful, but he knew what he had done wrong. "You almost..." Virginia said, but he ignored her. He closed his eyes again, this time starting with more concentration. It started from the inside; it felt as if he was going to be sick, as if his innards were being punched. His legs dissolved into tiny noodles then became hard. His skin tingled and burner, stretching itself out and become feathers. He closed his eyes, not used to the unusual feeling of such a change. He felt his face form, his mouth becoming small and pointed, his alertness doubled, becoming even more aware of everything around him.

He flapped his wings, feeling the power he had. He did it again and again, until he felt himself lifted off the ground. A wind gust slammed against him, lifting him further into the air. It felt natural to ride the wind, and he felt it ripple his feathers and he smiled inwardly. This was completely different from flying on a broom, it was like floating.

Behind him someone screeched. Harry understood her. Virginia had changed and was following him with the bag in her hands. Harry screeched back it her. Sirius had once told him he could understand dogs, but couldn't take back very well. He seemed to have no difficulties talking to Virginia.

• Edited 2004.09.18 •


End file.
